Thursday 18 June 2015 14:11, UK
Check out who makes the WhoScored best XI from the first round of Copa America games in Chile.
The opening round of fixtures at the Copa America threw up plenty of surprises, with favourites Argentina surrendering a two-goal advantage to draw with Paraguay while Colombia suffered defeat to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the likes of Brazil and holders Uruguay could only manage victories by a single goal margin against the likes of Peru and Jamaica respectively, as this summer's tournament in Chile got off to a nervy start for the big hitters. That said, there were still plenty of eye-catching displays from the names you would expect to grace a team of the round, with WhoScored.com bringing us their best statistically rated XI after the opening set of fixtures.
We start in goal, where Chile and Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo is the first of a quartet of representatives for both his club and country. The 32-year-old garnered a rating of 7.40 courtesy of five successful cross claims as Ecuador looked to exploit Chile's lack of height at the back. Bravo put in a commanding display to ensure Sampaoli's side picked up a clean sheet along with all three points, with their 2-0 victory representing the largest winning margin to date in an unexpectedly tight tournament thus far.
Bravo is joined by compatriot Gonzalo Jara, who had more touches than any other player on the field (99), won three aerial duels, two tackles and made three interceptions for a score of 7.51. The former West Brom man is joined at the heart of the defence by Uruguay and Atletico youngster Gimenez, who also played a part in an albeit unconvincing win and clean sheet for Uruguay.
Chile ran out 1-0 winners over tournament debutants Jamaica, with Gimenez registering the assist for Cristian Rodriguez's match winner shortly after the interval. With a further three tackles and four clearances the 20-year old earned a rating of 7.62 from WhoScored.
Dani Alves wasn't even in the Brazil squad until Real Madrid-bound Danilo was forced to withdraw through injury, but he went straight into the side, ahead of Monaco's Fabinho, at right-back nonetheless. Alves, who renewed his contract at the Nou Camp last week, justified his selection with a pinpoint cross to tee up club-mate Neymar's early leveller after Peru had taken a shock lead, picking up the highest rating of any defender in gameweek one (7.85). On the opposite flank, Uruguay's Alvaro Pereira takes his place at left-back after a solid showing that included two key passes and four tackles against Jamaica.
At the heart of the midfield Argentina's Ever Banega made the cut following three key passes, four dribbles, three tackles and a 90.3% pass success rate, and he's joined by Juventus and Chile's Arturo Vidal. The latter both won and converted a penalty to open the scoring for the host nation and was typically busy in breaking up play, making more tackles than any other player (four) in the curtain raiser against Ecuador.
It's a familiar sight from any best XI from the season gone by as far as the flanks are concerned, with Barcelona's destructive duo of Messi and Neymar earning a berth for showings against Paraguay and Peru respectively. The former scored from the spot to give Argentina a 2-0 first-half lead, mustering more shots in the opening round than any other player at the tournament (seven) along with six dribbles for a rating of 7.90.
Neymar, meanwhile, proved to be the player of the round as he somewhat dragged Brazil to victory. The 23-year-old was the only player to have a direct hand in more than one goal after the first set of fixtures, scoring the Selecao's equaliser with an unfamiliar headed goal before providing a sumptuous assist in second half injury time to ensure Dunga's men started their campaign with a win.
The Brazil captain had more touches than any other player (89), fired off the most shots (six), completed the most dribbles (five) and managed a joint-high of four key passes for a side that are becoming increasingly and perhaps worryingly reliant on his heroics. A rating of 9.03 from WhoScored.com certainly showed which star shone brightest in gameweek one.
It's a Premier League strike-force as Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez partner up after respective WhoScored man-of-the-match winning displays. Aguero accepted a gift from Paraguay's Miguel Samudio to round the keeper and open the scoring for Argentina against Peru, firing off four shots in total and completing 94.4% of his pass attempts for a rating of 7.96.
Sanchez, meanwhile, is second only to Neymar in the rankings so far, having laid on the assist for Eduardo Vargas' decisive second goal against Ecuador. One of four key passes on the night, the Arsenal man also completed six dribbles and mustered four shots for a score of 8.52 from WhoScored.com.
However, while the big names may have taken their places in the team of the tournament already, there was certainly enough evidence over the opening weekend to suggest the top teams at the Copa America won't have it all their own way.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with their new free-to-download iOS and Android app.
