Rangers star Alfredo Morelos is set to be affected after Colombia were removed as co-hosts for this summer’s Copa America by Conmebol due to safety concerns [BBC Sport].
Morelos was recently called up to Colombia’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Argentina, and while those matches are important in their own right, head coach Reinaldo Rueda will use them to gear up for the Copa America which begins on 13 June.
The Rangers star missed out the last time the high-profile tournament was held in 2019 but his status has grown considerably since then.
He has always dreamed of representing his country at a Copa America [Scottish Sun] and he looked set for a chance to do so on home soil this summer.
But it has now been confirmed that La Tricolor won’t have home advantage after all as they have been stripped of co-host status.
The decision was made due to widespread protests in Colombia which were initially a reaction to a controversial tax plan, but have developed into demonstrations against ‘police brutality, poor wages and a lack of opportunities for young people’ [BBC Sport].
The South American nation has also been badly affected by the pandemic.
Argentina, who were originally named alongside Colombia as co-hosts, have offered to take on the entire tournament, but Covid cases are also surging there, triggering a lockdown that’s set to last until the end of the month.
When the tournament does eventually get underway, Morelos and co. will face Brazil, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador in a five-team group, with four nations guaranteed to make it through to the quarter-finals.
Morelos finished the 2020/21 campaign with 17 goals, two fewer than Rangers’ top goalscorer James Tavernier and one less than fellow forward Kemar Roofe.
In other news, a ‘different class’ former Rangers star scored as his latest club moved to the brink of a shock promotion.
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