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Europe's influence on the Copa America

Xinhua, June 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

In the past 30 years, the role of Europe in the Copa America football tournament has been steadily increasing.

In 1987 only 5 percent of Copa America's footballers played in Europe (10 out of 214 players) and now, in 2015, 111 out of the 230 players (48 percent) come from European teams according to the tournament's official records.

It's a known fact that the best football is played in the main European leagues and the situation has been the same for over 50 years according to Copa America official journalist Kike La Hoz.

Although it may seem obvious, this talent has recently became more notorious in the world's oldest international continental football competition, the Copa America, wrote La Hoz on Copa America's official website.

Some might even say the tournament has "Europeanized".

Research carried out since the 1987 edition of the competition which took place in Argentina up to the current 2015 edition in Chile, confirms that footballers who play for European clubs have now become the majority in the last two editions of the South American tournament (120 out of 225 players in 2011 and 111 out of 230 players in 2015).

A prime example of this phenomenon is Argentina. In 1987, the South American team employed 19 footballers from local leagues. In 2015, 20 of Argentina's footballers play in the European leagues.

However, in contrast, Bolivia is the country which has nurtured local talent the most in 2015 by contracting 18 players from local leagues.

Ecuador also have kept a low number of "Europeans" over the years with only five in this year's edition.

Uruguay have tried to keep a 50 percent balance since 2001 with 12 "Europeans" and 10 "nationals" in their team this year.

Since 1987 Brazil has hired the most players from European teams out of all the South American countries that participate in Copa America with a staggering 110 players over the 12 editions.

Finally, Venezuela has seen a superlative growth especially considering that for years the team did not have any players from Europe. Endi