Berhalter Calls Up Big Guns for Copa America
When the USA played in the Gold Cup last Summer, most of their Europe-based players weren’t in the squad. This time around, coach Gregg Berhalter has called up his best players for Copa America 2024. The USA are hosting a special intercontinental edition of Copa America, with ten teams from South America and sixth from North America.
On Sunday, the USA open up with Bolivia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. We’ll preview the Copa America: USA vs Bolivia odds ahead of the match.
USA vs Bolivia
Day/Time: Sunday, June 23rd, 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, USA
USA vs Bolivia Head-to-Head:
All-time both teams are 2-4-2 in this fixture. However, the USA have won their last two matches against Bolivia. They last met in a 2018 friendly, which the USA won 3-0. In the only other match of this millennium, the USMNT defeated Bolivia 4-0 in 2016. This certainly hasn’t been one of the most frequent Copa America matchups, as it’s just the second match between USA and Bolivia in the competition. In 1995, Bolivia defeated the USA 1-0 in a group stage matchup.
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Doubt Remains About USA
On paper, this is one of the best USA sides in recent memory. Tim Ream is the only outfield player over 36 and most of the USA’s players are in top European leagues at club level. Still, the USMNT got a big wake up call in a recent friendly against Colombia.
A mistake-heavy performance led to a 5-1 loss on home soil, which was the first time the USA gave up five goals since 2009. It certainly casts doubt on the USA’s ability to perform against top-tier opposition.Still, the USA did grab a 1-1 draw versus Brazil a few days later, which was big for their confidence. Plus, Bolivia aren’t top tier opponents and the USMNT is expected to defeat Bolivia and Panama in the group stage.
The Uruguay match promises to be much trickier but any slip ups before then could be fatal. The squad is headlined by key USMNT players Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie. Goalkeeper Matt Turner also made 11 saves in the match against Brazil and there’s rarely been doubt about his shot stopping ability. He’s unfortunately not as adept with his feet, which sometimes leads to errors.
In their last competitive match, USA, who are ranked 11th in the world, won the CONCACAF Nations League Final. Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna, who’s somewhat of a wild card for the USA, scored in the 2-0 win over Mexico. It remains to be seen whether Berhalter will start PSV’s Ricardo Pepi, Monaco’s Folarin Balogun or Coventry City’s Haji Wright up front. The USA odds show they’re +1200 dark horses to win their first Copa America.
Bolivia: Struggled in Previous Copa Americas
Heading into this Copa America: USA vs Bolivia match, Bolivia have lost four of their five matches in 2024. In fact, they’ve won just three of their last 21 matches, in all competitions. Bolivia, 85th in the FIFA World Rankings, are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. Plus, Bolivia have lost their last 12 matches at the Copa America and have won just one match in the last nine tournaments.
Bolivia’s situation may sound dire when bettors consider that all-time leading scorer Marcelo Martins Moreno retired late last year. Still, there is some optimism surrounding coach Antonio Carlos Zago’s tenure. Now, Rodrigo Luis Ramallo is the team’s active leading scorer, with just seven goals.
Young attacking midfielder Miguel Terceros is an exciting young player and he and Ramiro Vaca figure to be Bolivia’s main creative outlets. Bolivia aren’t a terrible team but they struggle to get victories outside of their high-altitude fortress in La Paz.
Match Analysis & Odds
The Copa America: USA vs Bolivia odds price hosts USA as -500 favorites. A big win is exactly what the USA need to build some momentum and they’re two-goal favorites for this one. While expectations are low for Bolivia, they did beat Peru late last year and keep things close when they took on Ecuador and Paraguay in World Cup Qualifiers.
Bolivia are +1400 underdogs, which corresponds to just a 6.4 percent chance of victory without the vig. Despite USA’s 5-1 loss to Colombia, they are capable of putting in a good performance here. A draw would be a disappointing result for Berhalter and his players but one is priced at +575.
We’d stay away from Bolivia +2 at -122 odds as they’ve lost to Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil by two goals or more in the last year. The over/under is currently at 2.5, 3 and the over is priced at -125.
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Publish date : 2024-06-20 13:16:33
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