No show for UK fans of Copa America party

This isn't just the oldest international tournament - it celebrates its centenary next year - it is also one that includes three of the top five countries based on the Fifa ranking (if that's your thing) and four of the top eight. And if you want stars, well, from Neymar to James Rodriguez right down to that Lionel Messi chap, you won't be disappointed. The main notable absentee is Luis Suarez, who is still paying for his biting proclivity at the World Cup, but beyond that it is largely a full house.

Storylines? Well, there is Messi, who as his critics keep reminding us, has yet to win silverware for his country, unless you count the 2008 Olympic Gold Cup, which was a long time ago. Argentina came mighty close a year ago and they return with many of the familiar faces, except this time the likes of Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain are fit.

Brazil are looking to exorcise the demons of the Mineirazo and that 7-1 defeat against Germany. Carlos Dunga, who replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in his second stint at the helm, has called up just six of last year's World Cup squad. He still doesn't have a proper centre-forward and the midfield is untested, but what they don't lack is motivation. The kind that comes from an angry fan base who demand success as part of the long, slow healing process after that mauling.

Colombia are third favourites and it is not hard to see why. They stretched Brazil back at the World Cup - and probably should have beaten them - and boast a stellar attack, from James Rodriguez to Sevilla hit man Carlos Bacca to Jackson Martinez. Then there's Radamel Falcao, who missed out last summer and, whatever else he may lack, it won't be hunger after a year of disappointment at Manchester United.

Chile, the home side, may be the most interesting team to watch. Jorge Sampaoli remains one of the most unique managers around and his million-mile-an-hour perpetual sprinting machine ("I want to see 11 kamikazes out there," he said last month) is a sight to behold. Sampaoli gets his superstars - Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal - to run themselves into the ground with a purpose; it is the only way he can get away with a back three where the tallest defender is 5'8".

Uruguay are in the mix as well, though without Suarez they are obviously a different side. Yet there is also a school of thought that maintains his absence will allow Edinson Cavani to steal the show. The big PSG striker already has to share time up front with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at club level, but now he has the stage to himself. Bad geography aside (he said it was great that "African teams like Jamaica" were invited to the Copa), you get the sense this could be his tournament.

The others are what you would call outsiders. But - perhaps Jamaica aside - highly competitive ones as you would expect in a tournament where the rivalry and history has built up over 100 years.

You may not get to watch the games, which is a shame. But hit that youtube. There will be plenty of highlights.

STEVE McClaren is pretty much universally hailed as a "good egg" and a "football man": two qualities that rather make you wonder what he will be like after time in the great black-and-white vortex in the north-east of England.

His first 24 hours don't bode well, with his new employers hammered in the press for announcing that only their "preferred media partners" - the Daily Mirror and Sky - would get to interview the new manager. Cue Ashley-bashing and concerns that this heralds a brave new world of paying for access and interviews. Including to the likes of McClaren who may have other faults, but has always been open and available.

He apparently had nothing to do with this policy, though, as a job on the board came with his new role, he may be able to do something about it.

His record, to be fair, has been rather spotty of late. He won the Double at Twente, of course, redeeming himself in the eyes of some who ridiculed him after his England debacle. After that, he went to Wolfsburg, where he lasted six months and left the team on the brink of the relegation zone.

Next came Nottingham Forest and another flop: two months, six defeats in 10 and a side a point above releg-ation.

He returned to Twente, picked up the team in third place and left them in sixth at the end of the season. The following year, after some hefty spending in the summer, he was bounced out in February after four straight losses and the team in eighth place.

The rest is very recent history. He takes over Derby in sixth place and finishes third, losing in the play-offs. But then this past year saw an absurd collapse. Derby were first in the Championship, five points clear of the play-offs and somehow finished eighth. That's what happens when you win just two of your last 13.

OK, so past performance isn't a predictor of future results. But you take a guy like McClaren and you put him among the nuttiness that is Newcastle and your instinct is that it can only end one way. Not well.

You would think that a game behind closed doors as punishment for shouting racist abuse against Norway and halting a European qualifier in Milan by showering the pitch with flares would at least ensure that Croatia v Italy would go off without a hitch. After all, if there are no supporters, there is nobody to make monkey noises or light bottle rockets, right?

Not so. TV pictures on Friday night showed the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw, taking place with a large white swastika imprinted on the pitch. A spokesman for the Croatian FA apologised and confirmed it had been mowed or painted in during the previous 24 hours and that police were investigating.

Uefa action is all but assured. The tricky thing is that gestures like this risk fuelling the victim mentality that hooligans often use to justify themselves. In this case, it can all be blamed on one or two lunatics, absolving the rest of the supporters.