Copa América review: COSTA RICA

Now to the fourth and last of the sides eliminated at the group stage, the second invitee from the CONCACAF region, COSTA RICA.

As guests, Costa Rica, like Mexico, brought their Olympic squad with under-23 players to this tournament. Along with that, twelve of this Copa América squad were members of the Costa Rican party that participated in the 2011 Gold Cup in the United States the month before.

Without many high expectations weighing them down, this youthful Ticos side gave a great account of themselves, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the knockout stages. In Group A alongside Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia, they managed three points in a 2x0 win over Bolivia, a result which was sandwiched in between a tight 1x0 loss to Colombia and a rather humbling 3x0 defeat at the hands of hosts Argentina.

One of the more intriguing elements to consider regarding this Costa Rican side was their unorthodox and exciting tactics. With eccentric Argentine coach Ricardo La Volpe on the sidelines, enthusiasts have learned to expect the unexpected and in his bizarre 3-5-2/3-3-4 system, el Bigotón ('the Moustache') certainly delivered.

The system is probably best defined as a 3-5-2, but there are a number of quirks in its application that make it very different. The main source of confusion is the role of the left-sided player, usually Cerro Porteño's Diego Madrigal. In a standard 3-5-2, Madrigal would be the left wing back, sitting a little higher than the centre back line and attacking when the opportunity presented itself (like the right-sided Salvatierra). However, Madrigal's position approached that of a forward's, as he was often the highest player up the pitch but still made big retreating runs back to defence. Another important aspect is the forward runs of the midfielders, but we will go on to discuss that very shortly.

La Volpe's 3-5-2

In their opening match against Colombia they found themselves in trouble very early on, as their captain Randall Brenes was sent off within the first half hour. Colombia then took the initiative and made a tactical switch which really exploited their man advantage. Los Ticos struggled to deal with the alteration and fell a goal behind, but still managed to play a solid game for the rest of the ninety minutes, not conceding more than once.

In their next match against Bolivia, their unconventional system worked perfectly as they brushed off la Verde 2x0. Forward Joel Campbell dropped deep and worked in the channels where he was offered a lot of space. The forward runs from the midfielders (particularly substitute Guevara in the second half) were left largely untracked, and it resulted in Costa Rica having four against four in attacking situations.

Animation of Costa Rica moving into an attacking phase. Note the four defenders having to deal with the four attackers. (CLICK TO PLAY ANIMATION)

In their final game against Argentina, La Volpe attempted to play a little more cautiously against the country of his birth, but their lop-sided and disorganised shape left them exposed and they were picked apart by Lionel Messi. The best player in the world had a delightful match, picking out countless perfect passes to his team-mates as Argentina strolled to a 3x0 victory.

With three points from three games leaving them in third place in Group A, Costa Rica had to rely on results in the other groups to go in their favour to have a chance of qualifying. Unfortunately for Los Ticos, the match between Paraguay and Venezuela finished as a draw, leaving Costa Rica as the worst third-placed team and thus eliminating them from the competition.

Despite the early exit, this was certainly a positive performance from Costa Rica in this year's Copa. One of the main plus points was the continued emergence of young forward Joel Campbell of Saprissa. With the sending off of team captain Randall Brenes in their first match, Campbell took on the job of being Costa Rica's main attacking threat. He impressed throughout the three matches, particularly against Bolivia where his direct dribbling, pace and trickery was a constant thorn in the side of la Verde.

All things cAfter the match against Bolivia, Campbell was subject to interest from some of Europe's biggest clubs, with Arsenal reportedly agreeing a transfer worth around $1,5million. However the move broke down, with Campbell himself stating that he did not want to sign with Arsenal at the present time, believing his own stock will rise further after the upcoming 2011 Youth World Cup. The 19 year-old was the only member of the Costa Rican national pool who played at the Gold Cup, then in this Copa América and now is in the squad for the youth tournament in Colombia.

Copa América review: BOLIVIA

Continuing on with my series of nation-by-nation reviews, we move on to this year's 11th ranked side, BOLIVIA.

Ranked 93rd in the world and without a win away from home since 2007, no-one was really expecting much from Bolivia in this Copa América. Furthermore they were drawn into Group A alongside Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica, and even given the 'honour' of playing the hosts in the tournament's opening match. In the end they only managed to register a paltry one point, but that certainly does not tell the full story of their campaign.

The manager Gustavo Quinteros - a member of the Bolivian team when they last qualified for a World Cup in 1994 - selected a well-balanced and experienced 23-man squad, with only five of them playing their club football outside of Bolivia. La Verde shocked everyone when they managed to draw 1x1 with Argentina in the tournament's opening match, but they later succumbed to two 2x0 defeats against Costa Rica and Colombia. 

Tactically Quinteros had Bolivia set up in a very simple fashion, a defensive 4-4-2 with two solid banks of four playing behind the forwards. Their style worked superbly against Argentina's 4-3-3 in the first game, but struggled in the other two games when they were expected to play more football.

Against Argentina, Bolivia were excellent, staying compact and narrow and giving nothing away to Argentina's jewel-encrusted forward line. Team captain Ronald Raldes in particular gave a fabulous performance in the centre of defence; constantly spurning the hosts' attacking advances.

Line-ups vs. Argentina. (Note Bolivia's two narrow defensive lines, congesting the play and frustrating their opponents)

Bolivia took a surprise lead at the start of the second half when Argentina's Éver Banega let a back heel from Edivaldo Rojas sneak under his foot and roll into the net, and at that moment it looked like la Verde might manoeuvre a famous victory in La Plata. Their defence remained resolute, but eventually they conceded an equaliser through a stunning volley from substitute Sergio Agüero.

The script was quite different for their next match against Costa Rica, as Bolivia were coaxed into opening up and trying to win the match. They lined yp with a 4-4-2 again, but against Costa Rica's unorthodox 3-5-2/3-3-4 formation they ran in to real problems. This game will be discussed further when we cover Costa Rica, but essentially Bolivia's rigid shape struggled to deal with Costa Rica's fluidity and they found it hard to track the forward runs of the Costa Rican midfield.

Bolivia ended up losing the match 2x0, and things got even worse with the sending off of both Ronald Rivero and Walter Flores. This left la Verde needing a win in their final group match against the impressive Colombia to retain any chance of qualifying.

In that match against los Cafeteros in Santa Fe, Bolivia fielded a partially changed side due to the suspensions to Rivero and Flores. Santos Amador and Ronald García filled in at central defence and central midfield respectively, while there was a change at full-back, Christian Vargas coming in to replace Gutiérrez.

Bolivia looked to try and stay narrow like against Argentina, but Colombia's rampaging full-backs made that impossible, leaving the Bolivia defence stretched and full of holes. Colombia's wide midfielders Ramos and Moreno were happy to stay more central and occupy the Bolivia full-backs, which left Colombia's full-backs Armero and Zúñiga with the entire flank to operate in.

Formations vs. Colombia [Note how Vargas (14) and Álvarez (4) are occupied, allowing Colombia to control the flanks]

Despite this obvious advantage down the flanks for Colombia, the first goal went in courtesy of a through ball through the centre of the Bolivia defence. Lacking the regular partnership of Rivero and Raldes, Bolivia looked shaky and disorganised, and a well-timed run from Falcao left him clear on goal and allowed him to finish well.

The second goal however, was a prime example of Colombia's dominance on the wings. Pablo Armero made a huge run down the left flank, burst into the area and was tripped for a penalty. Falcao coolly dispatched the spot-kick and Bolivia were well and truly sank.

Looking back on the tournament, the Bolivia squad and staff will probably be quite disappointed. Despite punching considerably above their weight with their performance in the opening match, they still finished fourth in the group and only managed to score one goal. However there were certainly some huge positives to take from the tournament, namely the draw against Argentina in front of a capacity crowd in La Plata.

Now Bolivia will have their eyes on the 2014 World Cup qualifying, where they will attempt to pull off a few more famous results. At home in La Paz, they are capable of beating any opposition, but their main focus will be to improve their dreadful away record.