Copa America 2015: Day 4 Takeaways

The opening phase of the 2015 Copa America was completed on Sunday as the first Group C matches took place.

Brazil needed a flying start against Peru to exorcise the memories of last year's humbling at the hands of Germany on home soil in the World Cup.

Colombia were also looking for a winning opener as they lined up against Venezuela at the Estadio El Teniente in Rancagua.

Here are our takeaways from Day 4 in Chile.

1. Venezuela maintain the rise of the underdog in Copa America

To date, we have already seen Bolivia thwart Mexico in a 0-0 draw, watched Argentina pegged back to 2-2 by Paraguay and viewed Jamaica almost stun Uruguay before the holders ran out 1-0 winners.

Surely the shocking results were now at an end and the time had come for the major nations to start performing.

Er, no.

Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

Venezuela came into the tournament with few people giving them a chance of matching their 2011 performance, when they reached the final only to be defeated by Uruguay.

Against a Colombia side which included Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez, and impressed at the 2014 World Cup, the 2011 semi-finalists were surely unlikely to open this year's tournament with a win?

Wrong again.

Noel Sanvicente's team were by far the better side against their more-illustrious opponents and fully deserved the shock reward they earned.

Salomon Rondon proved to be the hero of the hour—quite literally in this case—as his 60th-minute header sealed the points for Venezuela.

"

#CopaAmerica: Salomon #Rondon's goal to beat #Columbia 1-0! What an upset. #COLVEN http://t.co/GsOFYYLsCd

— The First Eleven (@thefirstxi) June 14, 2015"

The 1-0 win was another surprise result to add to a growing list on just the fourth day of competition.

2. Is it time for Colombia to ditch Radamel Falcao?

This season will not go down as one of the best for the Colombian striker.

Excitement abounded among Manchester United supporters last August as the forward joined the club on a season-long loan.

But the move turned sour as Falcao failed to hit the heights which had made him such a hit at Atletico Madrid before his switch to Monaco.

The Copa America appeared to be an opportunity for the 29-year-old to cast aside the poor Premier League campaign and perhaps impress on Chelsea fans why he could be a good fit at Stamford Bridge next season, with Duncan Castles of the Sunday Times reporting:

However, Falcao, along with Carlos Bacca, found his opportunities seriously limited against Venezuela.

A lack of service did not help the forward, but Kevin McCauley of SBNation.com wrote:

"

He (Falcao) was poor, like he has been for most of the last year, and Colombia looked static with him up top.

They could have played the same way with Jackson Martinez instead, or with an additional winger or playmaker, and probably would have looked much more effective.

Instead, they had to play hampered by an average player who starts on reputation alone.

"

What Falcao achieved during his time at the Vicente Calderon Stadium was stunning, but he has not enjoyed anywhere near the same success since the serious knee injury which robbed him of a World Cup place last year.

Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press

In Brazil, Colombia were impressive and Rodriguez earned a multi-million move to Real Madrid on the back of his displays in the tournament. 

Perhaps Colombia head coach Jose Peckerman should consider allowing his star man more freedom at the expense of Falcao when he considers his team for the game against Brazil on Wednesday.

3. Brazil are still too reliant on Neymar 

That Neymar is some player, isn't he? Coming off the back of a treble-winning season with Barcelona, much was expected of the Brazil star in the Copa America.

Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press

Luckily he did not disappoint in the Selecao's opening game against Peru. After the shock of going a goal down inside the first three minutes to Christian Cueva's opener, Neymar gathered his nerve and headed home an equaliser just two minutes later from an inch-perfect Dani Alves cross.

It was a goal that brought relief to Brazil and Neymar, who told Globo, via Goal: “This debut was difficult because of the game, the continental rivalry, and everything. But we got the win, which was our goal.”

The 23-year-old was a constant thorn in the side of the Peruvians throughout the 90 minutes, but fortunately for Ricardo Gareca's team, the majority of his team-mates remained a few steps behind his thinking.

Witness Cueva's opener for Peru when David Luiz and Jefferson dithered over a long ball into the area before the Brazil goalkeeper promptly placed the ball into the path of the Peru winger.

"

I liked a @YouTube video from @footgoalhdtv http://t.co/mFq3HsmKOD Christian Cueva Goal ~ Brazil vs Peru 0-1 ~ (Copa America

— Cena (@Alcazar993) June 14, 2015"

All the memories of that horrific night in Belo Horizonte came flooding back. Were Brazil about to fall flat once more?

Unlike in the 7-1 loss to the eventual world champions, Neymar was not sidelined with a back injury, and the Barcelona star thrived on helping his country.

His runs and trickery are capable of leaving the best defenders in world football flummoxed at the Camp Nou, but there he is surrounded by exceptional talent across the board—as Alves also proved on several occasions in Temuco.

And Neymar's through ball for Douglas Costa's injury-time winner was a thing of pure beauty.

The weight of expectation does not seen to trouble Neymar, despite his relatively young age. But Brazil need to find form across their team if they are to lift silverware once more.

4. Politics are never far from the surface in South America

South America is no stranger to controversy. Argentina's 1978 World Cup win was mired in suggestions of under-handed antics, as Keme Nzerem of Channel 4 News reported in Apr. 2012.

That report pointed to political influence on a game against Peru which the host nation needed to win by six goals to reach the final. Needless to say, Argentina did just that.

Politics and football are uneasy bedfellows most of the time, but that did not stop former Mexican President Felipe Calderon from offering his opinion on Venezuela's tactics in the win over Colombia, as Bogota-based British journalist Carl Worswick noted:

We're now just waiting for David Cameron and Barack Obama to weigh in on the tournament.