World football’s best players await Socceroos at Copa America with possible fixtures against Lionel Messi or Neymar
The Socceroos will learn this week whether they’ll have Lionel Messi or Neymar to handle in next year’s Copa America when the draw for the prestigious tournament is held.
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It’s a choice to make any footballer salivate, with either Lionel Messi or Neymar lying in wait for the Socceroos in just over six months’ time.
The answer will come this week with Australia to find which group it will be in at the Copa America, one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments and the draw for which will be held early on Wednesday.
It comes amid a blizzard of fixtures for Australia next year, with Graham Arnold’s side likely to play at least 14 games and possibly more – and the Socceroos boss has already laid out a series of records for his squad to target.
Wednesday’s draw will put Australia and Qatar, the two invited nations, into the two groups for the Copa America – either in the North Zone with Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela (to be played in Colombia) or the South Zone alongside Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and group hosts Argentina.
It means at least five games for Arnold’s side potentially against stars including Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez, and coming hot on the heels of the final two fixtures in the first phase of World Cup qualifying, also in June.
Arnold admitted the run of games will test the depth of talent he has tried to create over the past 16 months.
“Logistically it will be hard but the past few months have been all about creating depth for precisely this scenario,” Arnold said.
“We’ll have the two World Cup qualifiers in June, and then seven or eight days to travel to South America and be ready for our first game.
“Last year Japan (as one of the invited nations) took their Olympic team to the Copa America, and we could look at it as a transitional tournament too, the opportunity to give quite a few players tournament experience against good teams and in big atmospheres.
“We have the Olympic qualifiers in January and the plan is to get through to the Games in Tokyo, so the Copa America could be part of the preparation for that as well.”
With four games left in the first phase of World Cup qualifying – at home to Kuwait in Perth and away to Nepal in March, then at home to Chinese Taipei and Jordan in June – Arnold said he had set his players a target of maximum points to create a small piece of history.
“I told the boys that having won four from four, we aim to go through undefeated and send a strong statement to the rest of Asia,” he said.
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“The most points achieved previously in this first phase was under Ange, with 21 points, and beating that would demonstrate a ruthless mindset.
“But it would also have practical effects, as depending on other results we could be seeded higher for the second round of World Cup qualifiers.”
Originally published as World football’s best players await Socceroos at Copa America with possible fixtures against Lionel Messi or Neymar