The 2015 Copa América began – and continues – with some pleasant surprises, and as the first round gets closer to its conclusion, a few more surprises will surely be in store. Wednesday, Colombia stunned Brazil with a 1-0 win. The victory comes like a breath of fresh air for the Cafeteros, who lost their opening game against Venezuela. This leaves group C wide open, so every team will have to leave their souls on the pitch if they wants to make it to the second round. Surprisingly, the other groups are just as open. It’s easy to understand now why so many people say that the South American World Cup Qualifiers are the toughest in the world. With the two best third places also advancing to the Quarterfinals, there is no single team eliminated yet, so very exciting matches – and surprises –are expected to come. Here is the list of the most exciting matches that will be taking place in what remains of the 1st round.
Venezuela-Perú
A victory for Venezuela would mean securing their pass to the next round. That’s something historic if you consider that Venezuela had never won their first match in the South American tournament, much less the first two. Peru needs to come back from their loss against Brazil, which just became much more painful when Colombia defeated the Cariocas, leaving everyone in the group with possibilities to advance.
Match Date/Time: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaíso, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), America Televisión (Perú) Venevisión, Meridiano Televisión, Televisora Venezolana Social, DirecTV Sports (Venezuela).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Mexico-Ecuador
Mexico needs to win. Ecuador needs to win. A tie eliminates Ecuador for sure, and most probably Mexico too (although they could still go through as 3rd place, but that’s pretty unlikely). Both teams have shown weaknesses in their defense, but strength in their attack, so this game should be very open with both teams having plenty of chances to score.
Match Date/Time: Friday, 5 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), TV y TC Televisión (Ecuador) Televisa, TDN and TvAzteca (Mexico)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada).
Chile-Bolivia
In the game against Mexico, Chile made it clear that their style is to attack at all times; so there’s not much else to expect in their game against Bolivia (despite the fact that a tie is enough to get them to the next round). The host team will want to make a statement and let everyone know they’re one of the contenders for the Championship. Bolivia already has enough points to put them in the fight for best 3rd place, but with the other groups also tied, they won’t want to leave it all to luck.
Match Date/Time: Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), Canal 13 y DirecTV Sports (Chile) CotasTv and TigoStar (Bolivia).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Uruguay-Paraguay
A tie will put both teams in the next round, and with both known for their defensive styles, my guess is they’ll take it easy. Though I might be wrong, I think this will be a slow game, with neither team taking too many risks.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 3:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio La Portada, La Serena, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), Telefuturo and Tigo Sports (Paraguay), Monte Carlo Televisión, Saeta TV, Monte Carlo TV and DirecTV (Uruguay)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Argentina-Jamaica
Jamaica can still make it to the second round, but they will need to defeat Argentina and wait for a combination of results that do not seem likely, however, with Argentina still not qualified, I highly doubt the Caribenos will be able to pull it off, but who knows, it has been a Copa America of surprises.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio El Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), TvPública, TyC Sports and DirecTV Sports (Argentina), ESPN and CVM (Jamaica)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Perú-Colombia
If Peru defeats Venezuela tonight, all the group C teams will be tied at 3 points, so it will be sink or swim for both teams. If Peru loses against Venezuela, they will be looking for a desperate win that could qualify them as a best 3rd. Colombia will arrive motivated from its win against Brazil – but let’s not forget they lost their opening game, so they need just as many points if they want to make it out of the 1st round alive. This should be a very exciting match.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio German Becker, Temuco, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), SporTV, Globo (Brazil), Premier Sports (U.K.), Caracol TV, RCN (Colombia) America Televisión (Perú)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada), Premier player (U.K.), Caracol Play (Colombia)
Brazil-Venezuela
Brazil will want to clean up its image after the defeat against Colombia –and qualify. Venezuela might already be in the second round if it defeats Peru tonight, but it might also be looking for qualification if it doesn’t, so they’ll have to leave everything on the field. Brazil will be missing its best player, Neymar, due to a red card, so it will be up to the young strikers Firmino and Douglas Costa to find the goals.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 5:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Monumental, Santiago, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), Globo, SporTV and ESPN (Brazil), Venevisión, Meridiano Televisión, Televisora Venezolana Social, DirecTV Sports (Venezuela).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)