Copa América Has Been A Horrible Mess So Far

We’re through the first round of group stage games in the 2019 Copa América, and there’s really only one thing we know for sure: this tournament is total ass. The first six matches have been plagued by blowouts, VAR nonsense, and all the usual CONMEBOL-flavored bullshit. This isn’t a bug, but rather a feature; Copa América always has some of the worst talent disparities of any major tournament (not counting the Gold Cup here, which is its own nightmare), and there’s a reason South American matches are, ahem, renowned for their choppiness: players don’t hold back on the crunching tackles, and referees are more than willing to let them do it. Perhaps the best example of this stilted tournament so far was its second match. Venezuela and Peru are both in the mid-tier of South Ame…