Ninety-nine years ago the birth of the Copa America, the sport’s oldest continental competition, brought about a rapid change to the game of football.

Held almost annually in the early years, the tournament fostered a dramatic rise in the standards of South American sides – made evident when Uruguay arrived unheralded at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris and walked off with the gold medal. They enchanted observers with the beauty of their play and led to a question being asked: how can we find out which really is the best team around, given that professionals cannot enter the Olympics?

The answer, of course, was the creation of the World Cup – first staged, and won, by Uruguay, just 14 years after they had claimed the inaugural Copa.

Since then, the Copa has been through a number of phases, at times playing host to the best football in the world, at others neglected. It was brought back in 1987, and taken round all of South America’s
10 footballing nations, but it found itself overshadowed by another significant development in South American football – the introduction, in 1996, of the marathon format of World Cup qualification, where all 10 nations play each other home and away, a change which has done wonders for the standard of the less traditional nations.

For a few years the Copa seemed superfluous, and between 1997 and 2004 four versions were played, all with plenty of understrength teams. Since then, though, the Copa has found its place in the calendar.

The 2015 edition begins today. [See also: Group A preview and Group B preview]

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Brazil
Number of Copa America titles: 8

Last Copa title: 2007

Coach: Dunga

Finish in the most recent Copa: Quarterfinals

Player to watch: Neymar literally broke his back trying to carry the Selecao at the World Cup in Brazil. Will the Champions League's top-scorer finally get some help in Chile?

Greatest player: Pele -- Simply known as 'The King,' the three-time World Cup winner is considered the sport's greatest player ever.

Greatest achievement: The 1970 World Cup. Regarded as one of the greatest teams the game has ever seen, Brazil, led by Pele, swept through the 1970 World Cup in Mexico with a swashbuckling panache that would become the standard by which all other teams would be measured.

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Colombia
Number of Copa America titles: 1

 

Last Copa title: 2001

Coach: Jose Pekerman

Finish in the most recent Copa: Quarterfinals

Player to watch: James Rodriguez became a global star in Brazil. What will the outrageously talented No. 10 do for an encore in Chile?

Greatest player: Carlos Valderrama -- The hair sparked curiosity, but his skill demanded attention. El Pibe was the unquestioned star of Colombia's golden generation and captained his country in three World Cups.

Greatest achievement: The Copa America title in 2001 and the fifth-place finish in World Cup 2014. Colombia captured its first Copa America crown on home soil in 2001. Their run to the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals was their best finish in the competition.

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Peru
Number of Copa America titles: 2

Last Copa title: 1975

Coach: Ricardo Gareca

Finish in the most recent Copa: Semifinals

Player to watch: Paolo Guerrero is fresh off a big-money move to Brazil's Flamengo, and the former Bayern Munich striker will be counted on to find the net in Chile -- if he can shake off an ankle injury picked up in training.

Greatest player: Teofilo Cubillas -- The best player of Peru's golden generation of the 1970s, Cubillas is perhaps best known for his audacious, outside-of-the-boot, free-kick goal against Scotland in the 1978 World Cup.

Greatest achievement: The 1975 Copa America. A Cubillas-led Peru raised the second of its South American titles in 1975, needing penalties to beat Brazil in the Copa America final.

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Venezuela
Number of Copa America titles: 0

Last Copa title: Never

Coach: Noel Sanvicente

Finish in the most recent Copa: Semifinals

Player to watch: Jose Salomon Rondon, 25, looked at home leading the front line for Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Champions League this season. The Copa America is a stage that won't overawe the young gun.

Greatest player: Juan Arango -- Venezuela, for years a CONMEBOL doormat, has seen its fortunes change completely since 2000, and Arango -- La Vinotinto's captain and caps and goals leader -- has been at the forefront of their evolution.

Greatest moment: The 2011 Copa America semifinals appearance. Venezuela's march to the Copa America semis in 2011 improved upon the country's quarterfinals appearance -- its first -- in the 2007 edition.

[See also: Group A preview and Group B preview]

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