Perennial powerhouses Argentina and Brazil are CONMEBOL’s two representatives for the Summer Olympics in Japan, booking their spots as the last two teams standing in the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic tournament in Colombia.
It is Argentina’s ninth appearance in the Olympics, while Brazil will be appearing for the 14th time.
Featuring New York City FC’s Taty Castellanos, Argentina finished atop its group with a perfect 4-0-0 record and opened the final stage with a 3-2 win over Uruguay. Castellanos came off the bench late for Argentina, while LAFC’s Francisco Ginella started and played 80 minutes for Uruguay.
Argentina locked up qualification with a dramatic 2-1 win over host Colombia three days later and finished atop the four-team group despite a 3-0 defeat to Brazil Sunday. He played 31 minutes in Sunday night's match.
Brazil secured passage with that win, leapfrogging Uruguay, which defeated Colombia, 3-1, Sunday. Brazil drew Colombia and Uruguay in its first two matches in the final stage.
LAFC teammates Eduard Atuesta and Eddie Segura started all of Colombia’s matches in the final stage, playing the full 90 minutes in the first two matches. LAFC’s Diego Rossi started for Uruguay and played the full 90 minutes, while Ginella came on for a four-minute substitute appearances in the win.
All but two of the 16 spots in the Olympics have been secured with Concacaf the remaining region.
That eight-team tournament, which takes place in Guadalajara, starts March 20 and runs through April 1.
