Nicolas Gonzalez and Lucas Alario are among the Bundesliga-based players at the 2021 Copa America. - © DFL
Nicolas Gonzalez and Lucas Alario are among the Bundesliga-based players at the 2021 Copa America. - © DFL
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Lucas Alario, Charles Aranguiz and the top 5 Bundesliga players to watch at Copa America

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This summer's Copa America has been rearranged to take place in Brazil. Four Bundesliga clubs have representatives at the tournament, which gets underway on 13 June.

bundesliga.com has all the details on which Germany-based players are in with a chance of becoming a South American champion.

Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen)
Nation:
Argentina
Position:
Striker

Alario's fourth season in Germany was his most prolific to date, as he ended the 2020/21 campaign with 11 league goals. Doubles in wins over Augsburg, Freiburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach made the Argentine stand out in the first half of the campaign, and he finished it strongly with vital strikes in victories over Schalke and Eintracht Frankfurt in April. At the end of that month, however, he suffered a thigh injury in training that put his presence at the Copa America in doubt.

The 28-year-old is one of three Bundesliga players who could represent Argentina in Brazil, with club teammate Exequiel Palacios being another. Alario will be hoping he can play his part to help Lionel Messi & Co. to emerge from a group that also includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. The former River Plate forward has three goals in nine appearances for his country, with one of his strikes coming in a 2-2 draw with Germany in Dortmund in October 2019.

Alario top scored in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen with 11 goals, despite making only 25 league appearances in 2020/21. - Simon Hofmann/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images

Nicolas Gonzalez (VfB Stuttgart)
Nation: Argentina
Position: Striker

A hero of Stuttgart's promotion campaign in 2019/20, Gonzalez's contribution to their first year back in the Bundesliga was severely restricted due to injury. The 23-year-old still managed six goals in 15 matches before his club season officially came to a close at the end of March because of a thigh problem.

The former Argentinos Juniors attacker has recovered in time to join the likes of Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez and Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa in a star-studded squad, and he started Argentina's 2-2 draw in Colombia on 9 June. Gonzalez has two goals in six caps for his country since his debut in 2019, with both coming during last November's World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Paraguay.

Watch: Gonzalez's masterclass at Augsburg this season

Charles Aranguiz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Nation: Chile
Position: Central midfielder

By far the most experienced and most successful of the Bundesliga's representatives at the Copa America is Leverkusen midfielder Aranguiz. The 32-year-old has amassed 82 caps for Chile and has twice won the competition in the past.

Both those wins - in 2015 and 2016 - featured a penalty shootout victory over Argentina in the final, when Aranguiz twice kept his cool from the spot. Regularly keeping the Leverkusen midfield over since 2015, he'll renew his rivalry with Argentina in the first group match on 14 June.

Charles Aranguiz will be battling in the Chile midfield just like he has done while captaining Bayer Leverkusen. - DFL

Omar Alderete (Hertha Berlin)
Nation:
Paraguay
Position:
Centre-back

If he does recover in time, Alario will face some stiff competition to get into the Argentina starting XI, with none other than Barcelona pair Messi and Sergio Aguero to contend with. That also means that Paraguay defender Alderete could have his hands full when his side meet Argentina in their third group match on 21 June. The 24-year-old centre-back will go into the tournament with plenty of confidence, though, after completing a solid first season in the Bundesliga. Having joined from Swiss side Basel last October, Alderete finished with 17 league appearances for Hertha.

In May he started against Freiburg, Schalke and Cologne, three games in which his team conceded just one goal and picked up seven points to secure their top-flight status for another year. Those performances could be enough to see the rugged defender add to his four caps for his country.

Omar Alderete became a key part of the Hertha Berlin defence in his first season with the club. - getty images

Sergio Cordova (Augsburg/Arminia Bielefeld)
Nation: Venezuela
Position: Forward

Cordova spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan from Augsburg at Arminia Bielefeld, helping the promoted side secure another year in the top flight with two goals in 23 appearances.

Before he returns for a fifth season in German football, he'll hope to spring a surprise or two with Venezuela in a tough-looking Group B. His team start on 13 June against host country Brazil, who top the South American World Cup qualifying section with six wins from six.

Sergio Cordova, who made 13 starts on loan at Arminia Bielefeld in 2020/21, will be an underdog once again with Venezuela at the Copa America. - Markus Ulmer via www.imago-images.de/imago images/ULMER Pressebildagentur

Their victory over Venezuela last November was a narrow one - by one goal to nil - so Cordova will aim to add for his 10 caps and cause a huge upset when the two meet again in Brasilia.