You could say that the Copa America has been a disappointment
so far. Despite each of the 12 nations having now played, only two teams have managed
victories (Group B is all even with all four teams on a single point), and
Group C’s Chile are the other team with three points after beating Mexico. The quick-fire
nature of the tournament means that we now have already entered “Squeaky Bum
Time”, to coin a phrase from a somewhat successful football coach, which makes
for a fascinating week, starting with hosts Argentina’s bid to get back on
track against one of the two opening winners in Colombia.
Sergio Batista has a superb group of talented players in
this Argentina side but unfortunately for him and the overwhelming favourites it
appears that he doesn’t yet know the correct mix to put out on the pitch judged
on their 1-1 draw against Bolivia, a match that was widely expected to be
little more than a procession for the hosts.
Argentina started as expected and had more than once scoring
chance but were unable to make the breakthrough and were punished when Edivaldo
Rojas back heeled it in cheeky fashion past Sergio Romero, although in truth it
was a lucky goal if you consider the poor work of the man on the line and also
the goalkeeper himself, who was definitely caught unawares.
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| Kun Aguero will be just one of many main men for Argentina |
The way that Argentina played for the rest of the game definitely
told us that the spark was more than there and it’s fascinating that the Brazil
coach Mano Menezes blamed the La Plata pitch after his side laboured to a
ponderous 0-0 draw in their opening match against Venezuela.
Batista has already
come out to say that he will not be changing the side that faced Bolivia. - "To
start with, there will not be big changes to take on Colombia; we are
completely focused on Wednesday's game."
While this could prove unsatisfactory for some – Leaving Angel
Di Maria (Real Madrid ) and Sergio Aguero (Athletico Madrid) – Could prove
costly if they lack dynamism in the match, with the linkup between Messi and
the forward line proving just as tenuous as it did for them in the World Cup.
Colombia have some dangerous attacking options with the
gifted Ramadal Falcao (FC Porto) Ramos (Hertha) and Rodallega (Wigan Athletic)
up front and a strong back line full of the likes of Yepes (Milan) Zuniga
(Napoli) Armero (Udinese) and Perea (Athletico Madrid). That’s not something to
be sniffed at given the balance that the team have between defence and attack.
If one was looking to put a hole in their win it could be
that it was a rather edgy performance against a very young team that had a man
sent off within half an hour of kickoff. That said, only 2 teams have won in
this tournament and that shouldn’t be underestimated.
The (last three) head – to heads are interesting, as all
three have seen the home side run out victorious. Argentina won 1-0 when they
last faced off in 2009, Colombia won 2-1 in 2007 and even further back
Argentina were comfortable winners when they overturned Colombia 4-2 four years
ago (almost to the day) on 2nd July 2007.
This makes the draw an appealing proposition. Argentina
still have some questions to answer, are no value and may still take some time
to get going against a side which have plenty of defensive prowess, while
Colombia may be flattered by their opening win. Colombia's last 11 matches - 10
of which were friendlies - have stayed Under 2.5 Goals, so that may be worth a
shot, while the draw at half – time is still fairly priced enough to be a
saver.
Advice
2 pts Draw (7/2 Paddy Power)
1 pt Half – Time Draw(13/8 Betfred)
1 pt Under 2.5 Goals
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