Brazil and Uruguay were the happiest groups as the teams left Peru. Argentina and Colombia could also be pleased with their efforts while there was the usual frustration for the hosts and mixed feelings for Mexico.

Brazil, who rested their top players, proved that their reserves are almost as good by walking off with the title, beating Argentina 4-2 on penalties in the final.

"All these players are regulars in important teams and are internationally recognised. The only thing they hadn't done was play in the Braziian national team," said coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after his side's remarkable achievement.

"They all made the most of their chance. We have a very good generation and we have a marvellous future ahead of us."

Uruguay arrived in disarray after three successive heavy defeats in the World Cup qualifiers.

But, with the return of captain Paolo Montero to steady the defence after a two-year absence, they added some attacking bite to their famous, or possibly notorious, tenacity and scored 12 goals in six games as they finished third.

"We have re-found our identity, we have re-found our football," enthused coach Jorge Fossati.

QUESTION MARKS

Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has been trying for two years to weave his country's younger generation into the team, finally did so at the Copa.

Midfielder Javier Mascherano and striker Carlos Tevez, both 20, Cesar Delagdo, 21, and Luis Gonzalez, 23, all had excellent tournaments and left question marks over the futures of Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo, who were both absent.

Colombia, like Uruguay, recovered from some poor performances in the World Cup qualifiers as they finished fourth under Reinaldo Rueda.

At the other end of the scale, Ecuador's Hernan Dario Gomez became the only coaching casualty as he resigned after his team were the only side to lose all their matches. Results included a 6-1 thrashing by Colombia.

Bolivia, who rarely perform well away from the high altitude of La Paz, did respectably as they drew two games and lost their other in the last minute while Chile disappointed as they went out in the first round.

Venezuela failed to carry their enormous improvement in the World Cup qualifiers into the Copa America and were left waiting to add to a sad total of just one win in their Copa history, which goes back to 1967.

Paraguay brought their under-23 team as they warmed up for the Olympic Games next month but still managed to become the only team to beat Brazil as they won 2-1 before losing 3-1 to Uruguay in the quarter-finals.

Costa Rica, who appointed Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto as coach only three weeks before the start, were also pleased to have reached the last eight.

Hosts Peru fell victim to their usual anxiety and poor finishing as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Argentina.

Along the way, the Peruvians boycotted the media in protests at reports that two players went on a drinking binge shortly before the Copa.

Mexico, as usual, promised great things as they marched through the first stage unbeaten, claiming their first competitive win over Argentina on the way and lifting the pressure on their gruff Argentine coach Ricardo Lavolpe.

But the good work was undone as they crashed 4-0 to Brazil in their quarter-final while Lavolpe stayed on despite twice threatening to quit.

"We had a great chance to show Mexico can compete with the best teams but we blew it," said captain Pavel Pardo.