Copa America. The big international championship this year, which left little memories somehow – apart from South America, hardly anybody noticed it. It was played between August 10 and November 4, 1983, in the following formula: Paraguay, the cup holders were exempted from preliminary rounds, going directly the semi-finals. The remaining 9 countries were divided into 3 round-robin groups, the winners going to the semi-finals. There was no host country – from start to end every country played two matches against any opponent, one at home and one away. Thus, matches were played in the following cities: Asuncion, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Goiania, Quito, La Paz, Lima, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Santiago, Uberlandia. Some strange places, indeed – but that concerns only Brazil, where the popularity of the game pushed towards various cities. Luck was against Brazil and Argentina, which happened to be in one preliminary group. As was often the case in the past, squads looked unusual – increasingly, the reason was that players based in Europe were not available. There were only 5 foreign based players and only Paraguay had legionaries stationed outside the continent: Romero and Cabanas, both of New York Cosmos. The Argentine Jose Luis Brown played for Atletico Nacional (Colombia) and Uruguayans Enzo Francescoli for River Plate (Argentina) and Walter Olivera for Atletico Mineiro (Brazil). But there was something else as well: Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay had new coaches. Their concepts differed from those of the previous coaches, therefore, they selected different players. The new coaches are worth mentioning: Argentina was now under Carlos Bilardo – the very opposite of Menotti in philosophy. Hence, entirely different players – tough fighters were preferred. Practically, only Fillol remained from Menotti’s team, but some of the players Menotti ignored now were in the team – Mouzo, for instance. Of course, the new team was just in the early stages of shaping, so many of the players did not play any role in later years. Maradona was absent.
Brazil was now under Carlos Alberto Parreira. A strange choice at the time – at least to the foreign eye: Parreira was known just because he coached Kuwait at the 1982 World Cup. And that was practically the pinnacle of his career so far – which was not long and he was not a former player. Parreira had nothing to do with Tele Santana’s views and the team was changed accordingly – it was going in the same direction as Bilardo’s Argentina: tougher, more physical and defense-first approach. Zico was not present, but some of the players Santana did not use were back. Leao, first of all – unquestionably, the best Brazilian goalkeeper since early 1970s, he refused to play for Santana, objecting to his concept in favour of attack. Parreira’s concept was acceptable, though – and no wonder: as a goalkeeper, Leao naturally preferred strong defense. Also back was Roberto Dinamita in attack – he was known as Dinamite in the 1970s, now was Dinamita. Santana had problems with center-forwards, but somehow Roberto Dinamita was not exactly his type of player. Parreira taught otherwise. Strikers continued to be a problem, though – and those chosen, including the recycled hero of the 1978 World Cup Mendonca, were not exactly satisfying. Midfield was somewhat destroyed: Socrates was not used in every game, seemingly, Parreira trying to build different kind of midfield – tougher and physical, but not creative. A midfield of warriors, not artists. Of course, it was difficult to judge, for Zico and Falcao, playing in Europe, were unavailable. Yet, the fact that Socrates was often out. Defense was fine – Leandro, Marcio, Mozer, and Junior – but the emphasis was on brutal toughness. Mozer excelled in that, but even elegant Junior was largely kicking legs rather than the ball.
Finally, Omar Borras.
‘Professor’ Borras was the oldest of the new coaches, but least known outside South America. And he remained unknown to the world until 1986. His approach was hardly changing the general directions of Uruguayan football and he, having limited options compared to Parreira and Bilardo, did not chose entirely different players. His contribution was largely bringing the notoriously brutal Uruguayan kind of football to new peak. More or less, the only discarded players were the veterans from the 1970s – Walter Olivera and Fernando Morena. It was gradual dismissal – both were still in the team and played a bit in the tournament, but not at the end. Understandable choice – both were getting old and it was inevitable they would be out soon. What Borras did was stripping down any pretension of playing football: it was just keep back, kill anything that move, sacrifice yourself, and pass the ball to one of the fast wingers to see what they can do in counter-attack. If goal was scored – great, but it was not essential: first and foremost, break the legs of all players of the other team. If not the legs – than their heads. Break something, no matter what. Scare them. Kill them. Simple. No wonder Enzo Francescoli was not exactly a key figure and not very visible on the pitch – it was not that he was to organize attacks, but, with some luck, to finish. To kick the ball in the net, if there was some stray chance. Combative Diogo was much more visible – punching, kicking, grabbing, and orchestrating the mowing of his teammates to suicidal degree. Kill the opposition, even if you die in the effort – that was all. Borras plainly and simply introduced murder as a tactic. His players, the very same used before, did not mind at all.
One last note, concerning a name. There was Valderama, playing for Colombia, but this was not the one coming naturally to mind: not Carlos ‘Pibe’ Valderrama, but Alex ‘Didi’ Valderrama of Union Magdalena. He did not play long for Colombia, but he was playing in the 1983 Copa America. ‘Pibe’ was not yet a national team player.