Just kickin’ around in Hamilton
A look at the 11 other nations coming to compete for soccer gold
In addition to Canada, there are 11 other nations in the Pan American Games soccer tournament.
Three (Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil) plus Canada qualified teams in both the women’s and men’s tournament while Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Uruguay will have only a men’s or women’s team.
The following offers a thumbnail sketch, including its Toronto-and-area-based population, of each of the visiting nations which will field a team in Hamilton. Their schedule of preliminary-round games is also included.
Argentina
Women Only: Saturday July 11 vs. Trinidad and Tobago; Tuesday July 14, vs Mexico; Saturday July 18 vs. Colombia
Did you know? Ushuaia is commonly regarded as the southernmost city i n the world. Population: 41 million Local population: 8,580
Local connections: Argentina has a special connection with the Pan Ams, the first games were held in 1951 in Buenos Aires.
Soccer in particular is huge in Argentina. The men’s team won’t be represented among the eight participants in Toronto despite winning the South American qualifying tournament, because it came with an automatic berth into the 2016 Olympics, but
the women’s team will be making the trip.
Memorable sporting moment: World Cup wins in 1978 and 1986. Argentina also has the most Pan Am gold medals in men’s soccer, with a total of six.
Brazil
Women: Saturday July 11 vs. Costa Rica; Wednesday July 15 vs. Ecuador; Sunday July 19 vs. Brazil.
Men: Sunday July 12 vs. Canada; Thursday July 16 vs. Peru; Monday July 20 vs. Panama
Did you know? During the Great Depression, Brazilian athletes on board a ship to the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles helped fund their trip by selling coffee to fellow passengers. Population: 200.4 million
Local population: 10,225 In sports from soccer to gymnastics, exoect to see plenty of Brazilian athletes making their mark, including superstar swimmer Cesar Cielo. The 28-year-old has won three Olympic medals and six individual World Championship gold medals, and has broken two world records.
Memorable sporting moment: Brazil has won soccer’s World Cup five times — more than any other country — with the latest trophy in 2002.
Colombia
Women Only: Saturday July 11 vs. Mexico; Tuesday July 14 vs. Trinidad and Tobabo; Saturday July 18 vs. Argentina
Did you know? Colombia has the highest number of species by area in the world — including the most orchids and amphibians. The country also has almost twice as many bird species as the entire continent of North America. Population: 48.3 million
Local population: 17,285 Colombian soccer players have some sweet moves. At the 2014 World Cup, the team made it to the quarter-finals for the first time and danced their hearts out after almost every goal they scored.
While the country’s women’s soccer team will be participating in Toronto, the men’s players won’t be busting a move at these Pan Am Games.
Memorable sporting moment: Colombia hosted the 2001 Copa America soccer tourney and came out on top, winning every match and conceding no goals.
Costa Rica
Women Only: Saturday July 11 vs Brazil; Wednesday July 15 vs. Canada; Sunday July
19 vs Ecuador
Did you know? Costa Rica doesn’t have an official military — it was abolished back in 1948 after a civil war. Population: 4.9 million
Local population: 1,680 Costa Ricans will be looking forward to the women’s soccer competition and track and field.
Memorable sporting moment: Costa Rica’s best-ever showing at last year’s World Cup was amazing, as the “Ticos” lost to the Netherlands in a tight quarter-final.
Ecuador
Women Only: Saturday July 11 vs. Canada; Wednesday July 15 vs. Brazil; Sunday July 19 vs Costa Rica
Did you know? Ecuador’s capital, Quito, sits right on the Earth’s equator, and that imaginary dividing line gave the country its name. Population: 15.7 million
Local population: 10,525 Every May 24, the Toronto Ecuadorian community celebrates the Batalla de Pichincha, commemorating Ecuador’s liberation from Spain in 1822.
Memorable sporting moment: Jefferson Perez won Ecuador’s first Olympic medal in 1996 in Atlanta: gold in the men’s 20-kilometre walk.
Mexico
Women: Saturday July 11 vs. Colombia; Tuesday July 14 vs. Argentina; Saturday July 18 vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Men: Monday July 13 vs. Paraguay; Friday July 17 vs. Uruguay; Tuesday July 12 vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Did you know? Anthony Quinn was the first Mexican to win an Academy Award, for his role in the 1952 movie Viva Zapata. Population: 122.3 million
Local population: 11,605 Mexico was the host of the last Pan Am Games (2011 in Guadalajara) the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games really got underway when the torch began its journey to Toronto from the Pyramid of the Sun near Mexico. And it will be soccer that will capture the heart of the southern Ontario Mexican community. The Toronto community is planning a number of events to celebrate, including a concert and festival at Nathan Phillips Square on July 15.
Memorable sporting moment: The 2012 Olympic soccer match where Mexico’s men’s team won the gold medal.
Panama
Men Only: Sunday July 12, vs. Peru; Thursday July 16 vs. Canada; Monday July 20 vs. Brazil
Did you know? Panama has more than 1,400 tree species, including the square tree, which has a square-shaped trunk and is found in the mountains west of Panama City. Population: 3.8 million Local population: 910
Memorable sporting moment: Anything that has to do with boxer Roberto Duran. Considered one of the best of all time, Duran was known to many by his nickname “Manos de Piedra” or Hands of Stone.
Paraguay
Men Only: Monday July 13 vs. Mexico; Friday July 17 vs. Trinidad and Tobago; Tuesday July 21 vs. Uruguay
Did you know? Paraguay is bilingual. Residents speak both Guarani (an indigenous language) and Spanish. Guarani is an onomatopoeic language, with many of its words imitating the natural sounds of animals, forests and waterfalls. The country’s flag is one of the few worldwide with an emblem on both sides: one is the national coat of arms, the other a yellow lion with a red cap. Population: 6.8 million
Local population: 350 Memorable sporting moment: In 1979, Club Olimpia won the Paraguayan soccer championship, the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Interamericana and the Intercontinental Cup, she proudly reminds us.
Peru
Men Only: Sunday July 12 vs. Panama; Thursday July 16 vs. Brazil; Monday July 20 vs. Peru;
Did you know? Lake Titicaca in southern Peru is the world’s highest navigable lake. Population: 30.3 million
Local population: 8,375 Ines Melchor, a marathon runner, and Delfina Cuglievan, a water-skiing world champion, are two athletes to watch in the Games.
Memorable sporting moment: Sofia Mulanovich was the first South American to win the World Surfing Title, in 2004.
Trinidad & Tobago
Women: Saturday, July 11 vs Argentina; Tuesday July 14 vs. Colombia; Saturday July 18 vs. Mexico
Men: Monday July 13 vs. Uruguay; Friday July 17 vs. Paraguay; Tuesday July 21 vs. Mexico
Did you know? Daniel Defoe set his novel Robinson Crusoe on an island near Trinidad. Robert Louis Stevenson is also said to have used the area as the setting for Treasure Island. Population: 1.34 million
Local population: 46,915 This community dates back to a wave of islanders who came to Canada in the 1950s as domestic workers, says Horace Thorne, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ontario. Toronto’s Caribana festival has its roots in Trinidad’s Carnival.
Although not a Pan Am event, cricket is widely popular on the islands.
Memorable sporting moment: Keshorn Walcott won a gold medal in javelin in the 2012 London Olympics, and Hasely Crawford was crowned at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the men’s 100-metre race, says Thorne.
Uruguay
Men Only: Monday July 13 vs Trinidad and Tobago: Friday July 17, vs. Mexico; Tuesday July 21 vs. Mexico;
Did you know? The majority of the population in Uruguay is of either Spanish or Italian descent. A small fraction — 3 per cent — are African, their ancestors having come to Uruguay because of the slave trade. Population: 3.4 million
Local population: 3,925 The biggest exodus to Canada took place between 1975 and 1985, as many fled the country’s military dictatorship.
Memorable sporting moment: The inaugural World Cup in 1950. Brazil was host and went into the final match as favourite. Uruguay pulled off one of the sport’s biggest upsets, a 2-1 victory.