Copa America - Colombia v Bolivia

With the racing suffering from a scheduling equivalent of a hangover having quite literally “shot it’s load” with a tremendous Saturday of racing, it’s back to the Copa America we go, were we hope to continue the success that we’ve had so far, with a recent treble in the latest Argentina game. Things will surely get more difficult now as teams begin to throw everything to snatch qualification from the jaws of elimination.

Colombia's strong, robust defense (hopefully)

One of the few teams to actually win so far, Colombia are top of Group A after beating Costa Rica 1-0 and holding Argentina to a goalless draw. They were cautious against 10-man Costa Rica and played on the counter-attack against Argentina.

Many will see the Costa Rica result as a flattering outcome given that the Costa Ricans basically were fielding an under 23 side but the Colombians failed to capitalise on their dominance, and despite numerous chances late on, were made to settle for a 1-0 win despite profligate finishing.

Colombia played it very safe against Argentina but that worked and it’s now got them in a hugely prominent position and it’s testament to their excellent defence, which has kept clean sheets in six of the team's last nine matches, that they were able to keep which were able to neutralize Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi, albeit an underform trip who weren’t firing. That said, they are a tough side to break down in any circumstances.

Bolivia also held tournament favourites Argentina to a draw (through more luck than skill given how a cobined Goalkeeping/Defending error gave them their lead) but then they went and blew a huge chance. Had they beaten Costa Rica, they would have been assured of a place in the quarter-final of the Copa América for the first time since 1997.

Only once before, in 1995, have they ever got that far before away from the comforting altitude of home, in contrast with their away record which sees no wins since beating South Africa in a friendly more than four years ago.

To add to that, they are without two key players in Ronaldo Rivero and Walter Flores because they were both sent off against Costa Rica, which makes it harder for them to break down the robust Colombian defence.

While the above says that Colombia are the only side with a chance of winning this quotes of 8/13 are a massive overreaction and they do not need to win to qualify, which is never the situation you want to be in when backing any team to win, let alone one at odds on.

That said, after a dreadful performance when beaten by an inexperienced Costa Rica team (only 5 proper seniors) Bolivia are no bet even at the standout 11/2 with Victor Chandler – Remember that Colombia represent a stiffer test and also without two key attacking players. Using the fairly elementary system that has served well thoughought this tournament so far, I’ll go for the draw all things considered, while also backing the half time draw and then the Draw/Draw double result to try and make a killing.

Advice

2 pts Draw ( 11/4 Stan James)

1 pt Draw/Draw (5/1 Boylesports)

1 pt HT Draw (23/20 Totesport)