The first round of the Copa América ended with some very exciting minutes between Brazil and Venezuela, with the Vinotinto looking for a last minute goal that would put them in the 2nd round, and although they couldn’t get it, they left the tournament with their heads held high.
The three favorite teams won their respective groups (Chile, Argentina, and Brazil) and much more excitement is expected to come in the following games, especially after seeing the resulting match-ups for the quarterfinal. Although there are some favorites, it’s hard to remember a Copa América where the 2nd round was so evenly-matched.
Here is how the Copa América Quarterfinals will be going down this week.
Chile-Uruguay
It could be said that Chile is the favorite in this game, especially since they’re amped up from their 5-0 victory over Bolivia. But would someone really be that surprised if Uruguay came out with the win and disappointed millions of local fans? At the last Copa América, the Uruguayos eliminated none other than host team Argentina, and went on to win the tournament. In fact, Uruguay is the squad with the most victories over host teams in the tournament’s history (14, according to twitter soccer stat guru Mister Chip). Add to this the fact that Chile has historically disappointed in the 2nd round of big tournaments (think Brazil 2014…or South Africa 2010).
In the 2011 Copa América, Uruguay and Chile tied 1-1. Uruguay won the tournament, while Chile lost in the quarterfinals to Venezuela. We’ll see what they have to say for the 2015 edition.
Match/Date Time: Wednesday, June 24th, 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), Monte Carlo Televisión, Saeta TV, Monte Carlo TV and DirecTV (Uruguay).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Bolivia-Perú
Bolivia is coming from a 0-5 loss to the local team, to be fair they had already qualified for the second round and only about half of the starting squad played. Bolivia, who hadn’t won a game in the tournament since they were locals 1997, are looking to continue their positive start and make it into the semifinals. Perú, on the other hand, wants to at least repeat what they did at the last Copa América, where they reached the semifinals after finishing in 3rd place in the group stage.
In the 2011 Copa América, Bolivia was eliminated from the first round after they tied against host team Argentina and lost to Colombia and Costa Rica.
Match/Date Time: Thursday, June 25th, 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Municipal Germán Becker, Temuco, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), America Televisión (Perú), CotasTv and TigoStar (Bolivia).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Argentina vs Colombia
After a rocky start against Paraguay that ended in a 2-2 tie, Argentina dominated (only slightly, with 1-0 wins) and took the lead. But to its surprise, their opponent will be none other than 2014 World Cup sensation Colombia, who had a very difficult time getting through the group stage. Losing to Venezuela in the opening game, and drawing with Peru in their last match, the Cafeteros had to wait until the last game of the first round between Brazil and Venezuela to find out whether they’d be advancing. In fact, the Colombians came close to packing their bags when Venezuelan striker Miku nearly scored a header from a cross that would have put the game 2-2 in its final minutes. But he didn’t.
And so, the Cafeteros became the 3rd team in the tournament’s history to reached the second round after scoring only one goal (once again, thanks to Mister Chip’s stats). Despite the very bumpy road, we have to remember Colombia’s only goal came in the 1-0 victory over Brazil, so perhaps the Cafateros have another surprised prepared for us –and Argentina.
In the 2011 edition, Colombia and Argentina tied 0-0. Both teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals; The Cafeteros were defeated 2-0 by Peru, while Argentina lost against eventual champions Uruguay during penalty kicks.
Match/Date Time: Friday, June 26th, 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio 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), Caracol TV, RCN (Colombia).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)
Brazil-Paraguay
If you look at tournament statistics, you might get the impression that Brazil dominated its group with 6 points (2 more than the 2nd place). But that’s pretty far from what actually happened. The Cariocas obtained their first 3 points with a goal on stoppage time against Peru in the first game, lost their second game to Colombia, and were close to a tie in their last. In fact, if things had gone just a little bit differently, Brazil could have ended with 2 points and gotten eliminated – but of course that’s just a paja mental and the Canharina are still competing for the tournament title.
As in previous years, Paraguay advanced without making too much noise, and will be looking to relive recent history and defeat Brazil in the quarterfinals, like they did in the 2011 Copa América. Alongside host team Chile and always-favorite Argentina, Paraguay is one of the few teams that is still undefeated in the tournament.
In the 2011 Copa América Paraguay and Brazil played twice. The first match, in the group stage, ended in a 2-2 draw. The story was not much different in the quarterfinals, were Paraguay defeated Brazil in penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw.
Match/Date Time: Saturday, June 27th, 5:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Municipal de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. — Spanish), Globo, SporTV and ESPN (Brazil), Telefuturo and Tigo Sports (Paraguay).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada)