United States forward Christian Pulisic (10) and defender Cameron Carter (2) talk with the referee … [+] during the Copa America match between Panama and the United States on June 27th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
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Matchday two of the Copa América group phase is over. The big contenders have triumphed again and Brazil are back to winning ways, but we have also had our first casualties of the tournament and a crippling blow for the United States.
Group A
Argentina defeated Chile 1-0 in their latest Copa América fixture. Lionel Messi wasn’t on the scoresheet but he did whip in the corner that led to Lautaro Martinez’s second strike of the tournament. The late goal means a victory against Peru will maintain a 100% record for Argentina in this group.
Elsewhere Canada beat Peru 1-0 to give themselves a fantastic chance of progressing to the tournament quarterfinals. Jesse Marsch and his team just need to draw their final match against Chile to stay alive in this Copa.
Group B
In group B Ecuador got over their defeat to Venezuela in round one by defeating Jamaica 3-1 in round two, eliminating the Caribbean side from the Copa in doing so. Ecuador are back in the hunt for a quarterfinal place now after an unfortunate start to the competition.
Venezuela beat Mexico to book their place in the next round of the tournament. One Rondon penalty was all that was necessary for the ‘vino tinto’ to qualify with a game to spare. Those results mean Mexico and Ecuador’s final clash in this group is essentially a knock out game to progress to the next round.
Group C
In Group C we saw Panama and the U.S go head-to-head in a hugely dramatic encounter that saw crazy red card offences committed by both teams. The early sending off of U.S forward Timothy Weah would be the critical moment in the end though, as the 10 men of the U.S stumbled to a 2-1 defeat. Panama’s red didn’t come until the 88th minute.
Uruguay certainly didn’t slip up like the U.S did. They beat Bolivia 5-0 in a game where Darwin Nuñez scored for the seventh consecutive time for his nation. Marcelo Bielsa’s side sit top of the group and look in fantastic form so far. Can they win their first Copa since 2011?
Group D
Giants Brazil have finally awoken at this tournament. After a drab 0-0 draw on matchday one they smashed their smaller neighbours Paraguay 4-1 in round two to send the losers crashing out of the tournament after back-to-back defeats.
Vinicius Juniors scored twice and was the centre of some Paraguay frustration. Between the showboating and crowd hyping it’s fair to say that Vini was not a popular man on the night. Brazil finally looked like a dangerous team though, and a strong Brazil is exactly what every Copa América viewer wants to see.
Colombia qualified for the quarterfinals with another comfortable win, this time over Costa Rica. The 3-0 victory leaves them top of the group where a draw with Brazil in their last match will be enough to keep them there.
This will be the most exciting game of the group stage as both Brazil and Colombia look to win group D and avoid a strong Uruguay team in the next round.
Vinicius Junior of Brazil during the CONMEBOL Copa America match between Paraguay and Brazil and at … [+] Allegiant Stadium on June 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Offside via Getty Images
Source link : https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephosullivan/2024/06/29/united-states-flop-as-copa-amrica-favourites-win-again/
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Publish date : 2024-06-29 08:38:38
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