Julio César Enciso, right winger for the Paraguay national team, was born in 2004, the year Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo made his Copa América debut. But despite that abysmal age difference, the 2021 edition of the tournament has allowed them to be together: Bravo as the oldest to play and Enciso as the youngest, debuting at 17 years, four months and 24 days against Bolivia.
Enciso is one of the 24 players born in the new millennium who has participated in the Copa América 2021. All the South American teams (10) registered at least one footballer born from 2000 onwards, with Chile and Ecuador having the most with six and five cases, respectively.
Not just them. Counting the Olympic category players, which are those born from 1997 onwards, the Copa América had 90 out of a universe of 272 registered, 33%. That is, one out of every three players in the tournament enters the Olympic youth category.
“The Copa América helps young people have this international contact with players of the highest level. It is a growth, that is why this participation is redeemable ”, highlighted the coach of Peru, Ricardo Gareca, who had four players born from 1998 onwards in his squad, who reached the semifinals.
The Copa América, as well as other South American tournaments, has served as an export platform with lucrative income. After the last edition in 2019, for example, the Brazilian Éder Militao were transferred to Real Madrid for 50 million euros and the Colombian Duván Zapata to Atalanta for 12 million.
However, several young people already have a quality seal. During the 2021 edition, within the Top 10 of most valuable players there are three born from 1997 onwards: the Argentine Lautaro Martínez, with a value of 80 million euros (the third most expensive only behind Neymar and Lionel Messi); the Uruguayan Federico Valverde, with 65; and the Brazilian Gabriel Jesús, with 60, according to Transfermarkt figures.
Lautaro, who was Italian champion with Inter Milan last season, has established himself as the second best scorer in the Copa América with three goals and has taken ownership from a historical reference like Sergio Agüero.
“Lautaro is with a strong maturity, he plays for a great in Italy and I see it as a good project. Criticism of ‘9’ is always on the edge, but he has to be strong for the bad moments ”, advised Gonzalo Higuaín, a former forward for the Argentina and Juventus national teams.
Martínez is the second most expensive player in the Italian league today, since since he arrived at Inter his price has tripled from 25 to 80 million euros; In the 2021 Copa América, he has contributed with a goal every 112 minutes for Argentina, which will play the final against Brazil.
Regarding the youngest, after the Paraguayan Enciso, there are five other debutants of this edition with less than 20 years: Luciano Arriagada for Chile; Jeyson Chura and Jaume Cuéllar for Bolivia; as well as Moisés Caicedo and Piero Hincapié for Ecuador. The record for the youngest to make his debut in a Copa América is held by the Ecuadorian Johnnier Montaño, aged 16 years, five months and 20 days, in the 1999 edition.
Other figures under 23 years
Within Next Gen 2021, the Uruguayan Valverde also stands out, who added 1,962 minutes in the season with Real Madrid, being the most consistent midfielder after Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
Born in 1998, Valverde is already the most expensive Uruguayan player today, surpassing figures such as Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani, who due to their age (over 33 years old) are in decline in terms of the price of their cards.
Eight of the 26 summoned from Uruguay for the Copa América are born from 1997 onwards, so they still enter the Olympic category. The team with the most players at that age is Ecuador, with 13 in total, and the minimum was four for Colombia and Peru.
Other footballers within that category who are headlines in the South American teams are: Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay / Juventus), Renan Lodi (Brazil / Atlético de Madrid) and Luis Díaz (Colombia / Porto).
In addition, other young people have been standing out in great world clubs and are waiting for their title in the national team: Ronald Araújo, Uruguayan central defender of Barcelona; Lisandro Martínez, Argentine defense and containment of Ajax, and Vinícius Júnior, who despite being the tenth Real Madrid player with the most minutes this season is still not indisputable in Brazil.
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