Hosts triumph in Rio
In Brazilian parlance, 1958 is the year that should never have ended. The economy was booming, the national team won the World Cup and Joao Gilberto launched Bossa Nova. There is little chance that 2019 will live in the memory with such affection, even though Brazil retained their record of winning every Copa America they have hosted. The economy is tanking, and Joao Gilberto died on the eve of the 3-1 win over Peru in the Final. And the Copa America is not the World Cup.
Winning this competition was never anything less than an obligation for the hosts, who were overwhelming favourites in every game they played, including the semi-final against Argentina. A duel with Uruguay or Colombia would have been interesting, but both fell in the quarterfinals to a penalty shoot-out, and
