This week, we look at the 2022 Copa America Femenina, that doubled as CONMEBOL 2023 Women's World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games Finals Qualifiers, and which was held in Colombia in July, including a look at the rosters.

CONMEBOL

2022 Copa America Femenina Review

What the 2022 Copa America Femenina has shown is that there is a clear gap opening up between the top group of 2023 Women's World Cup qualifiers and the other sides on the South American continent, with past WWC experience seemingly crucial to success in the Copa America Femenina. The top three sides in Colombia who advanced directly to next year's Women's World Cup—Brazil, Colombia and Argentina—have all qualified for past FIFA Finals. Brazil (their 9th Women's World Cup Final and who have been ever present, finishing third in 1999 and runners-up in 2007), Colombia (third after qualifying in 2011 and 2015 and missing out in 2019) and Argentina (fourth overall Finals and second in a row) are through as automatic qualifiers in 2023.

Brazil won again (their eight Copa America Femenina title with Argentina the only side to deny them in 2026) but this tournament belonged to Colombia, which fell 1-0 in the final in front of 28,000 at the Final in Bucaramanga. Seventeen-year-old Linda Caicedo was the star of the tournament and Golden Ball winner as the top player, scoring the lone goal in the 1-0 win semifinal win over Argentina in the same venue and finishing the tournament with two goals. She was also part of the U-20 Women's World Cup side this month at the Finals in Costa Rica.

Colombia, of course, had home advantage, and a capacity crowd of 28,000 in Bucaramanga at the final, after 15, 757 came for the semifinal 1-0 win over Argentina in the same city and 15,000 turned out for the tournament's opener ,a 4-2 win over Paraguay in Cali. The tournament attracted 172,233 fans at an average of 6,889 per match, which was above expectations and shows that, despite the problems of the professional league in the country (see more below), Colombia has a chance to host a feature world tournament, having bid for the 2023 Women's World Cup—see our analysis of their bid in our early 2020 column: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-breaking-down-the-2023-women-s-world-cup-bids-4312051.

In the Final, Colombia led Brazil for shots and shots on target. In the tournament, Brazil had 20 goals to 0 conceded in its six matches, but did not look as dominate as in past tournaments with a younger group (Marta is out for the season after an ACL tear with Orlando Pride in the preseason), particularly in the semifinal and final, but in part that speaks to the increasing level of competition in the last four—particularly for Las Cafeteras of Colombia—which is a good thing for the game in the continent. Pre-tournament friendly losses to Denmark (2-1) and Sweden (3-1) in June in Scandinavia worried some in Brazil but it did provide a higher level of competition for the Pia Sundhage (former Swedish and US international coach) led side. Both Brazil and Colombia also qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Finals as the top two teams from CONMEBOL.

The two FIFA Intercontinental Playoff spots were taken by Chile (who qualified in 2019 in France) and surprise side Paraguay (who have been building up their club and national teams' programs over the past half dozen seasons and tied their best ever Copa America Feminine finish of fourth place in 2006—having participated in all 7 tournaments since 1998; more recently they finished in fourth place in the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru). In the crucial third place match versus Argentina, Paraguay had the lead from a 39-minute own goal until the 78th minute when Yamila Rodriguez (24—Boca Juniors) scored the first goal to tie the match. Marie Florencia Bonsegundo (29—Madrid CFF) scored in the 90th minute and then Rodriguez added a second goal for the final 3-1 scoreline for a jubilant Argentina, while the Paraguayans were crushed at the late turn-around. Rodriguez finished as tournament top scorer with six goals with Brazilians Adriana (25—Corinthians) and Debinha (30—North Carolina Courage) next with five. Paraguay's head coach Marcello Frigerio (51) was born in Italy but has coached in Brazil, primarily with women's teams since the early 1990's, as well as with Equatorial Guinea's national team in 2011 and Changchun of China's women's team in 2018; he took over Paraguay's WNT in June of 2021.

Chile is the second side through to the Intercontinental Playoffs after defeating Venezuela in the 5th-6th place match in Armenia in front of 2,283 fans on July 24. Daniela Zamora (31—Djugardens IF of Sweden) gave Chile the lead in the 65th minute until Deyna Castellano, who moved this summer from Atletico Madrid to the WSL's Manchester City in one of the most-high profile moves of the year, scored an equalizer in the 92nd minute. The game proceeded right to penalties and Venezuela fell on penalties 4-2 with Castellanos and Kika Moreno (25—DUX Logrono in Spain) missing the first two shots, a hole which they could not climb out of. Venezuela was coached by Pamela Conti, a long time Italian international with 30 goals in 90 internationals and who played in the U.S. (W-League Buffalo Flash), Russia, Spain, Sweden and at home. She won two league titles in Italy and one in Russia and has been the coach in Venezuela since October 2019.

Venezuela has been a powerhouse on the international side at the U-17 level, with consecutive fourth place finishes in 2014 in Costa Rica and 2016 in Jordan but has not yet been able to transfer that to full national team finals qualification. Oddly, Venezuela had won a pair of friendlies with Chile just the month before in June in Chile—1-0 and 3-1—but Chile triumphed in the match that mattered and we would expect one of the South American teams to be seeded and go onto the 2023 WWC Finals from the Playoffs next February in New Zealand.

Peru and Bolivia really struggled in their four matches, surrendering 18 and 16 goals, respectively (Bolivia scored once and Peru was shut out on all four occasions) and at times they seemed very likely to have had trouble qualifying from Oceania. I have attended men's football matches in both countries and they are football mad; the federations need to support their women's teams to a much higher degree.

Final 2022 Copa America Femenina Group Stage Standings

Group A

Group B

Team Rosters

A look at the 10 team's rosters follows below, with interesting news on preparation matches, players and a focus on the use of players based with clubs abroad.

Group A

Bolivia

Bolivia used 18 home based players and 3 from minor league clubs in Spain.

Chile

Chile had 15 home-based players, six from Spain, one plays in France (world class goalkeeper Christine Endler of Olympique Lyon) while midfielder Maria Jose Rojas played in Australia with Adelaide United and Sydney FC last two seasons in Australia and is currently with NPLW club Salisbury Inter of Brisbane.

Colombia

Coach Nelson Abadía brought in 10 players from their local league—with 4 each from America de Cali and Deportivo Cali—along with eight from Spain, two from Brazil, and one each from Israel, Mexico and the U.S. The Texan-born addition is Angela Baron, who will play this fall at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Goalkeeper Catalina Perez of Real Betis is Spain, who previously played in Italy with Fiorentina and Napoli, moved from Bogota to Florida as a child, and played college soccer at the University of Miami and Mississippi State. Leicy Santos is with Atletico Madrid in Spain and previously played at Santa Fe in Colombia and at Iowa Central Community College.

COLOMBIA WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

Goalkeepers (3): 1-Catalina Perez (Real Betis, ESP), 12-Sandra Sepulveda (Hapoel Marmorek Rehovot FC, ISR), 13- Natalia Giraldo (America de Cali)

Defenders (7): 2-Manuela Vanegas (Real Sociedad, ESP), 3-Daniela Arias (Pachuca, MEX), 14-Angela Baron (D'Feeters Kicks, USA)), 17-Carolina Arias (Deportivo Cali), 19-Jorelyn Carabali (Deportivo Cali), 20-Monica Ramos (Gremio, BRA), 22-Daniela Caracas (Espanyol, ESP)

Midfielders (8): 4-Diana Ospina (América de Cali), 5-Lorena Bedoya (Atlético Nacional), 6-Daniela Montoya (Atlético Junior), 7-Gisela Robledo (UDG Tenerife, ESP), 8-Angie Castañeda (CP. Caceres, ESP), 10-Leicy Santos (Atlético de Madrid, ESP), 16-Gabriela Rodriguez (America de Cali), 21-Liana Salazar (Corinthians, BRA)

Forwards (5): 9-Mayra Ramirez (Sporting Club de Huelva, ESP), 11-Catalina Usme (América de Cali), 15-Tatiana Ariza (Deportivo Cali), 18-Linda Caicedo (Deportivo Cali), 23-Elexa Bahr (Racing de Santander, ESP)

Colombia's Liga Femenina saw America de Cali win the 2022 first stage tournament over 2022 runners-up and 2021 champions Deportivo Cali, winning 4-3 on aggregate in the 2022 two leg final. American is now tied for two league titles with Santa Fe of Bogota. Hopefully the success of this tournament and Colombia again making the Women's World Cup Finals will spur on the Dimayor National Women's League, which began in 2017 and has operated for six seasons, with more commercial sponsorships and television coverage. The season runs for approximately 3.5 months from mid-February through May. A second tournament for the second half of 2022 was set to begin in August and run through October but was recently cancelled as only 7 teams had confirmed play (compared to 17 in the first tournament). Fernando Jaramillo, the president of the Dimayor, said recently to NoticiasRCN.com that women's football was "not attractive" to sponsors in the country. Jaramillo explained, "The creation of a sustainable league is not easy because it is an important investment. A one-year football league can cost 10,000-12,000 million, between salaries, logistical issues and so on. It is an investment that is not around the corner and that is why we need more commitment from private enterprise." Jaramillo said that some women's clubs were funded from men's football income. Jaramillo explained that sponsors were not investing in the women's league because they did not see a return on their investment [the Holy Grail for all football organizations, but particularly for those in women's football, is to demonstrate ROI, which is starting to happen with some clubs in Europe and the States], "There is no investment from the private company because there is no return on investment, there is no investment from the private company because the product is still not consistent. So, what do we offer you if we offer you a three-month league [and] no one is interested? There is no media coverage."

For the latter, the women's league tried to put broadcasts of games on YouTube, but that wasn't a draw nor was putting women's games before men's games in the stadiums. South America was badly impacted via COVID, which has hurt all football league, but the Colombian Women's League is an important one for the region; it has helped Colombia make three of the past four Women's World Cup Finals and been a draw for imports within CONMEBOL, particularly from Venezuela.

Ecuador

Ecuador had 17 home-based players, three based in Spain, one in Italy and two with U.S. colleges.

Paraguay

Paraguay called in a squad that was quite dispersed throughout the Americas and Europe, with seven playing in Spain, six at home in Paraguay, five in Brazil and one each in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Portugal. Forward Gloria Villamayor (30) currently is with Toluca of Mexico for the 2022-23 season and has played in Spain, Chile, Colombia and at home.

Group B

Argentina

Argentina had 10 players based at home, six from clubs in Spain, two each playing in Brazil and Italy and one each from Portugal and the U.S.—the latter being defender Sophia Braun, who is a senior at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington (see our interview with her from last year after she made her debut for Argentina at the senior level in a tournament in the U.S.: The Week in Women's Football: Interview with Argentina midfielder Braun; Davis moves to Israel; Ifill appointed Samoa coach; - Tribal Football).

Also playing in the CONCACAF region is midfielder Ruth Bravo (30), who in her second season with Mexico's Pachuca after playing in Spain with Tacon (now Real Madrid) for one season and Rayo Vallecano for two. She scored one goal in 21 matches for Pachuca last season.

Brazil

Swedish-born head coach Pia Sundhage used 13 players who were based in Brazil, with three in Spain, three in the U.S. in the NWSL, two in Germany and one each from England, France and Italy. As mentioned above, the roster was relatively young and inexperienced, with only six having competed in the continental competition in the past: goalie Letícia Izidoro and Luciana, defenders Rafaelle and Tamires, and strikers Debinha and Bia Zaneratto.

Brazil Roster at 2022 Copa America Femenina
Goalkeepers:

Leticia - Corinthians

Natascha - Flamengo

Luciana - Ferroviaria

Defenders:
Antonia - Madrid CFF (Spain)

Fernanda Palermo - Sao Paulo

Kathellen - Inter Milan (Italy)

Letícia Santos – Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)

Tainara – who moved from Bordeaux in France to Bayern Munich in Germany this summer. (Note: See our column last month: The Week in Women's Football: CONCACAF reflection; Arsenal keep Miedema; Man City sign Venezuela star Castellanos - Tribal Football).

Tamires - Corinthians

Rafaelle - Arsenal (England)

Midfielders:

Adriana - Corinthians

Angelina - OL Reign (USA)

Ary Borges - Palmerias

Duda Santos - Palmerias

Gabi Portilho - Corinthians

Kerolin - North Caroline Courage (USA)

Luana - Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Duda (Maria Eduarda Frencelino da Silva) - Flamengo

Duda Sampaio - Internacional

Strikers:
Bia Zaneratto - Palmeiras

Debinha - North Carolina Courage (USA)

Gabi Porilho - Corinthians

Geyse - Madrid CFF (Spain)

Gio - Levante (Spain)

One player to watch ahead of next summer's Women's World Cup is Bia Zaneratto (28—is in her third season at Palmeiras in Sao Paulo and had 10 goals in 14 matches in 2022). She was on the Brazil side that won the Copa America Femenina in 2018. Bia won 7 league titles with Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels in Korea Republic between 2013 and 2019 and then moved to Whuan Jianghan University in China and won the Women' Super League title. She is approaching 100 caps.

Adriana Leal da Silva (25) has been with Corinthians for five seasons and scored 5 goals in 10 matches this season.

Peru

Peru had 11 players based in Peru—six with Universitario and four with Alianza Lima. They also brought two in from Spain, one from Portugal, one from Sweden and six from the U.S., with all currently in various colleges except for Alexandra Kimball of the North Carolina Courage U-23 team in the USL's W-League. She was with her home-state Utah Royals briefly in 2019 after playing at the University of North Carolina and has played with Peruvian national teams since 2018.

Venezuela

Venezuela used 10 players based with clubs in Spain (though Deyna Castellanos is moving to Manchester City in England this summer), three in Colombia, two in Mexico (one with Tijuana and one at Monterrey) ,two in Chile with Colo-Colo, only two at home in Venezuela and one each in Croatia with Split, in Brazil with Atletico Mineiro, in Iceland with Valur and in the U.S. at Northeastern University.

Uruguay

Uruguay had 11 home-based players, four from Argentina, three each in Brazil and in Spain, one in Portugal and one in Paraguay.

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey