Someone, worriedly, was interested in what artificial intelligence would think about South American football, more precisely what order they would give to the ten countries in the region. Who’s first, who’s last. The Bard platform – Google’s artificial intelligence – took into account the continent’s titles, participation in qualifiers, the number of world championships they participated in, the Copa América and the results they achieved there. And threw this ranking historical: 1) Brazil, 2) Argentina, 3) Uruguay, 4) Paraguay, 5) Colombia, 6) Peru, 7) Chile, 8) Ecuador, 9) Bolivia and 10) Venezuela.

The media gave wide coverage to this issue and talked about “ranking controversial”. This is not so because our football consists of only ten countries and it is not difficult to rank them because there are four well-differentiated levels, two of which are superpowers. It is also important to emphasize that when compiling such a list, not only achievements on nationally, but also at club level, the famous footballers that each medium has produced and the quality of each of them. the game. When talking about Brazil, one cannot only think of the number of successes achieved, but the beautiful style of its game throughout the centuries and the fantastic artists who represented him Finally, it should be noted that there are two scale, the one of all time and the current one, which are quite different. The best evidence is Ecuador, correctly positioned as 8th after the century, but currently clearly 4th in strength and players.

Artificial intelligence does not have eyes, it refers to making a judgment based on the sum of the elements and data it processes. However, the initiative is a good trigger for an interesting topic.

Participation in world championships: Brazil 22 (all), Argentina 18, Uruguay 14, Chile 9, Paraguay 8, Colombia 6, Peru 5, Ecuador 4, Bolivia 3, Venezuela 0. Victories at the Copa América; Argentina and Uruguay 15, Brazil 9, Peru, Chile and Paraguay 2, Colombia and Bolivia 1, Ecuador and Venezuela 0. Olympic Games: Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil 2, the rest without a crown.

The first three places (Brazil-Argentina-Uruguay) are unquestionable due to the cataract of trinomial achievements, although Uruguayan football has been separated from the two giants for the last four decades. Between 1916 and 1981, heavenly football was a force equal to Argentina and Brazil, but it was distant and its victories seemed from another era. Uruguayan football has never been aesthetic and in that sense it has always been below the other two. It has enormous merit for its strength and the fact that it is demographically much smaller than its neighbors. And at the club level, he also has important laurels.

Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002, no longer an invincible machine as the monsters of other eras have died out, he continues to create cracks, but more normal. However, he can be world champion again at any moment.

Argentina was a World Cup finalist five times from 1978 to 2022. And it produced Maradona and Messi, two of the three greats of universal football. Everything seems to indicate that it will continue to grow thanks to the unparalleled passion of its fans, the strength of its clubs, a hatchery that never stops producing and because the current squad can add another trophy.

There is a quartet balanced over the decades in every sense: Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia. The fourth step assigned to Paraguay is debatable. It’s not brilliant football media and it’s no more so than Chile. The controversy centered on Colombia’s fifth-place finish and Chile’s seventh-place finish. Red Elías Figueroa, Caszely, Salas, Zamorano, Vidal, Alexis went to three more world championships, and in the Copa América he added two titles and 4 runners-up, against 1 and 1 from coffee producers. Chile, in addition, was third in the Cup in 1962. In other areas, they are tied with the yellow team. It was logical to reverse the positions. Chile should not even be below Paraguay or Peru. In the famous Pacific Classic, Chile has 45 victories against Peru’s 24, has 4 more world championships played, and on the historical table of the Copa América surpasses both.

Today, Ecuador is a growing force and undoubtedly the most developed football on the continent in the last thirty years, but from 1989 onwards it was one of the youngest along with Venezuela, even below Bolivia. And he has karma: Copa América. It has never won it and is ninth, barely overtaking Venezuela.

Our ranking personally it is 1) Brazil, 2) Argentina, 3) Uruguay, 4) Chile, 5) Paraguay, 6) Colombia, 7) Peru, 8) Ecuador, 9) Bolivia and 10) Venezuela.

Now the tectonic plates of football are moving, slowly but with variations. In the new millennium, there were some movements worth mentioning: A) Argentina got quite close to Brazil. B) Brazil has not been world champion for 21 years and has won one of the last five Copa Américas. B) Uruguay maintains its strength as a team and produces players, but is far from the top two and has sunk in clubs. C) Ecuador made a spectacular jump from 8th place, overtaking Peru, Paraguay, Colombia and Chile. Its great virtue: it produces physically and temperamentally strong players. D) Colombia retains the privileged position, but does not crown it with a sacred title. The Colombian player is not done with the leap in quality. It’s like you have a speed limit and you don’t go over it. E) Paraguay went back a few squares. He is vulnerable like never before. F) Peru went to the World Cup after 36 years, but refused again and has no replacement. G) Chile gave birth to a Golden Generation (really a very good one), and then it did not experience a renewal. Their level in the clubs is very bad. H) Venezuela is the second most advanced after Ecuador, very significantly. And create export figures. I) Bolivia was collapsing between its apathy, its disorganization and its lack of numbers. It’s the last one.

Whether it matches this classification or not, artificial intelligence is just that, artificial. (OR)