Copa America 2011 Schedule: 3 Worst Performances from Tournament

I think it is safe to say that the 2011 Copa America tournament has not gone according to script. The two big favorites in this tournament were Argentina and Brazil. Both teams got off to sluggishly slow starts and then were bounced early in the quarterfinals.

Upsets rule at the 2011 Copa America tournament, but is that due to the inspired play of the underdogs or the underwhelming play of the favorites. 

The answer, as it is with most questions, is a mixture of both. There is no doubt that this tournament has seen its share of good and inspired performances, but those have been outweighed by the disappointing and poor performances. The following are the three worst of this year's tournament.

Copa America 2011 Was a Bit Messi

Lionel Messi was far from being a disaster at the 2011 Copa America, but when compared to the lofty standards, he has set for himself, he was a failure.

Messi entered this tournament widely regarded as the world's best player, yet he has been dogged by underwhelming play in International matches for Argentina. A lot of that had been attributed to the coaching and Argentina's system not utilizing his talents.

Argentina entered this tournament with a new coach who was determined to make the most out of his biggest weapon, Lionel Messi.

Messi certainly had his moments in this run, but he wound up with zero goals scored, and his team ended with an early exit and only one victory. Now Messi's legacy is tarnished with the accusations that he can only excel when surrounded by the amazing talent he is surrounded by at Barcelona.

The Great Brazilian Waxing

Brazil isn't used to this kind of failure when it comes to world football. They really aren't used to failure at all. So what happened at the 2011 Copa America to the defending champions was just a little more than surprising and unexpected.

Brazil came limping out of the gates. They opened up with a draw. They followed that with another draw. And they had only scored two games in the process! Panic was beginning to set in, but there was still plenty of time to get things going the way they wanted, and it looked as if they were on their way when they finally notched a victory in their group game. 

Brazil's offense finally got in track in that final group game. They scored four goals, and despite only recording one win, they won their group.

But as fate would have it, that victory only set the stage for their most epic failure of all.

Paraguay put the 2011 Copa America version of Brazil out of their misery on Sunday. Again, it was Brazil's anemic offense that was the culprit. The score at the end of regulation and the overtime session was 0-0. It was a shocking result for what should have been a powerful offense.

However, it was what happened after play resulted in zero goals for both teams that things got really bad for Brazil.

Brazil was beat in penalties 2-0. Yes, that is right. You just saw a zero for a team in penalties. And that is the first time that had ever happened at Copa America. For a team as talented and powerful as Brazil, this is mind boggling horrible. 

It is hard to put this failure into perspective. It is hard to completely showcase how badly Brazil compounded their poor performance by choking on this final shootout. Things were so bad that they only forced the goalkeeper for Paraguay to block one shot.

Thiago Silva's shot was blocked, and Elano, Andre Santos and Fred all just plain missed their attempts.

Cry for Me, Argentina

This was supposed to be a shining moment for Argentina. They were hosting the prestigious Copa America tournament. they were going to showcase their stadiums and most importantly, they were going to showcase their team.

Argentina entered with a new coach and a deep team that featured the world's premier player. They were the overwhelming favorites entering this tournament.

They certainly did not play like it. Argentina won only one game in this tournament. That was good enough to advance them into the quarterfinals, but once there, they were quickly dispatched.

The Argentines lost on penalties to Uruguay. The penalty kick total was 5-4. It took a fantastic stop by goalkeeper Fernando Muslera on a shot from substitute Carlos Tévez.

Their country hasn't fared much better when it comes to showcasing their venues, either.

Many of the opening games were held at Argentina's most modern stadium, La Plata.

And while the stadium was supposed to be a showcase, it ended up being a cause for concern. Players and coaches were not happy with the playing surface. And while this could be seen as sour grapes after Argentina and Brazil both were disappointing in draws, the criticism of the pitch came from their opponents, Bolivia and Venezuela, too.