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2016 Copa America Centenario ... starting June 3

jeffbear

jeffbear

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Staff member
COMNEBOL and CONCACAF come together to host the 100th Anniversary edition of the Copa America in the US, an event that's big on bragging rights and small on long term implications other than FIFA rankings. This is a one off that breaks the normal 4 year cycle for the Copa, specifically to mark the 100 years since the 1916 debut of the tournament. Group stages kick off June 3 ... TONIGHT ... with the US facing Columbia.

Here's the Groups

Columbia
US
Costa Rica
Paraguay

Brazil
Equador
Haiti
Peru

Mexico
Uruguay
Venezuela
Jamaica

Argentina
Chile
Panama
Bolivia

Note that Neymar will be out for Brazil and that Messi's presence for Argentina is uncertain due to his tax fraud trial in Spain. Still ... that rivals the Euros for pure strength. Mexico have the hottest hand coming in, having gone on an impressive 11 game unbeaten streak. Brazil and Uruguay are in generational transition, but Chile, Columbia, and Venezuela are all on the upswing and both Peru and Equador are also stronger than their norm. The US has a tough group, topped by Columbia but it's do-able to get through to the knockouts. Costa Rica's good, but missing Navas, their world class keeper, and Paraguay is pretty middling by this tourney's standards. Each group has a solid three team contingent. This should be some seriously good football.
 
Rough start for the US. They not only dropped the opener 2-0 to Colombia, they dug an early hole with bad marking on a corner and then mustered VERY little in the way of offensive threat. Costa Rica is next, and look for a shuffle up front. Using Dempsey as the central forward in the 4-3-3 is pretty danged futile. Even though the guy certainly gives it all he's got, he just not suited to the role. Still, the 3 man midfield does seem to work for the most part and Jurgen has options on the flanks. We'll see how it goes from here.

Mexico ... other than some discipline issues they looked the part of dark horses in beating Uruguay 3-1. They were all over the ball right from the start and other than some coverage lapses allowing Uruguay to equalize an early Mexico goal, this one wasn't even close. Mexico was in a different class.

Most of the rest of the games were pretty meh, but we've got Argentina/Chile coming up today. Nothing meh about that matchup.
 
Argentina/Chile ... THANK YOU

Brilliant football, and Argentina got a well earned 2-1 win by being absolutely deadly on quick transition counters. But beautiful football all around. I could watch that all day.
 
US gets back on track by hanging a 4 spot on Los Ticos, despite less possession and a worse completed pass percentage. Dempsey had a goal on a penalty and 2 assists. Jermaine Jones had a beautiful curler from the top of the box, Bobby Wood scuffed one in that the keeper would probably want back and Zusi finished it off late. The 4 goals, combined with Columbia conceding a late goal to Paraguay, gives the US a realistic chance at winning the group. A 2 goal win over Paraguay, combined with a Columbia loss or draw against Costa Rica gives the US the group.
 
A ... Paraguay is pretty bad, so I'll agree that we actually managed to finagle a shot at winning the group.

B ... Costa Rica is a mess on that back line so that ain't gonna happen. They absolutely folded under even token pressure from the US, and I cannot imagine what the Colombian attack will do to those guys.

C ... I thought the US played pretty well and finished their chances extremely well, but I'm not going to get too excited about this result for the same reason I didn't get too depressed about the loss to Colombia ... the final result had a LOT to do with the other team. That's about as bad as I've seen Los Ticos play in awhile. I don't know if it was the stupid decision to come out and press for the first ten minutes with a team that NEVER does that or what. But they were well off of their game last night. Generally there's almost no space to run between their midfield line and their back line but last night there were ACRES of room. No clue what that was about, but again ... the US made them pay, which is what you have to do. I did like the US sliding into a 4-4-2 to help support the flanks a bit, because it allowed Wood and Dempsey to both find more comfort up front. Wood stinks on the flank and Dempsey just isn't a CF although he'll give any role all he's got.

So. We've beaten a good team that played like crap and lost to a really good team that played fairly well. Nothing shocking or revelatory in any of that. The biggest news thus far is that the pairing of Cameron and Brooks at CB actually looks effective and that Brooks has actually improved to the point where he's a legit International class player.
 
Last night was the first I watched. Colombia looked pretty impressive against Paraguay, so I'm not going to fret too much about that loss. The main thing I liked was as JB said the play at the back. That's been a real weakness and they looked solid all night. And Guzan didn't have any of the kinds of moments that kept getting him on Men in Blazers all year.

From everything I've read, missing Argentina-Chile was unfortunate. We had houseguests with no interest in such things, so that was that.
 
Cameron played center back all year for Stoke. But Klinsmann kept putting him out wide, at least until Yedlin proved himself ready. Agree on Brooks, and he'll get some European experience, with Hertha in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League.
 
Last night was a really good example of how one or two transcendent players can elevate your results beyond what you actually deserve. Peru dominated Equador like nobody's business yet ended up walking away with a draw thanks to an absolutely brilliant combo play between Tony Valencia and Enner Valencia off of a turnover that shocked Equador to life for just long enough to scrape together enough possession to tie it up. That team was dead to that point. Dead, dead, dead. Two brilliant touches later ... alive. If you thought the US sucked in the 2nd half against Colombia, the first 35 minutes or so for Equador was worse, yet ... draw.

This game is about results, not so much how they are achieved. A lesson most US fans still need badly to learn.
 
Last night's results mean that if the US doesn't win the group, Brazil is probably up next. Brazil only needs a draw with Peru to win their group, unless Ecuador beats Haiti by more than 6 goals.

Haiti's goal against Brazil was scored by James Marcelin, who plays for the Carolina Railhawks.
 
Given the group they drew, that was pretty much a given. The only way Brazil was finishing 2nd to somebody in that bunch was if they brought the Over 40s. Peru and Equador are quality sides, but not THAT kind of quality. And Haiti is just thrilled to be involved, as their play would indicate. The may as well have been snapping selfies last night.

And let's get this out of the way ... we're not winning the group, barring a complete mental breakdown in the Colombian camp. They are WAY better than Costa Rica and only need a draw.

So. Hello Brazil. Let's give 'em a game this time.
 
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Frankly, I thought Venezuela was pretty much even on style points too. They played a brave, brave game.
 
I was VERY happy to see Chile get awarded the late penalty last night. Bolivia's constant flopping was disgraceful.
 
John Brooks may have just made himself a target in the summer transfer window. What a performance.
 
I enjoyed the referees wwe quality heel work. The fake injury he had to get additional heat from the crowd was magnificent. I actually agreed with most of his decisions, but it was also just top quality entertainment. Good win for the U.S.
 
HNIM said:
The Colombian manager sat ten starters. That constitutes Jeff's "complete mental breakdown".
Click to expand...

Wow... I hadn't heard that, I only tuned in to the last 10 minutes of that match after checking the score and seeing CRC ahead. A case of overconfidence, or preferring rest over caring who their quarters opponent is?
 
An uncalled hand ball sends Brazil crashing out of the tournament and gives Peru the top spot in that group. The US will take on Ecuador on Thursday in Seattle.
 
HNIM said:
The Colombian manager sat ten starters. That constitutes Jeff's "complete mental breakdown".
Click to expand...

Yup. That was exactly what I was thinking about. Either they played a semblance of their best 11 who then went through the motions or got arrogant and decided they could beat a decent, experienced outfit with their B Team. They chose the latter ... and it was stupid and wasteful. Their best 11 playing well can beat anybody in the Tournament, including Argentina. Not many teams in this Cup can say that .... yet they threw it all away.

How many times do CONCACAF sides have to prove that they're worthy of respect anyway? Costa Rica may have played like crap against the US, but they're only 2 years removed from being a legit force in the World Bloody Cup. Bolivia or Haiti? Sure ... B Team it up. The Ticos? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
 
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