Copa America Venezuela 2007

[sadora]

With the Copa America set to start on Tuesday, Argentina is looking for revenge against defending champs Brazil. The two played in the final of 2004 where Brazil won 4-2 on penalties. Of course when you think of South American football the two automatic favorites are Brazil and Argentina and with the squads confirmed this one looks to be no different. Watching some of the qualifying games along with a friendlies over the last few weeks you can't count out countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. Uruguay at the moment are tied with Argentina in first place with 14 Copa America titles each. Invitees Mexico and the US will both will have a tough time moving through the group stages facing the two most difficult groups each. Overall, Argentina has to be the top favorite in this one with players like Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Esteban Cambiasso, Pablo Aimar, Juan Sebastian Veron, Herna Crespo and of course, Lionel Messi. This is probably one of the best sides Argentina has had in a while so I'm picking them to win their 15th Copa America.

Here's the official website: http://copaamericavenezuela2007.terr...t.asp?pag=home

To see the games you might want to check your cable provider to see if you have Telelatino out of Toronto http://www.tlntv.com/.
You can also watch the games through GolTV which you can get online from TVU Networks at http://tvunetworks.com/

[Locke]

Interesting going so far. Peru absolutely destroyed Uruguay and Venezuela got robbed by Bolivia.

I can hardly wait for the Brazil-Mexico game tonight, its gonna be great.

[mrdeeds]

Originally Posted by Locke

Interesting going so far. Peru absolutely destroyed Uruguay and Venezuela got robbed by Bolivia.

I can hardly wait for the Brazil-Mexico game tonight, its gonna be great.

Isn't Mexico depleted for the Copa America? When I watch the final of the Gold Cup, I heard a lot of regulars were going on vacation after and the team basically put everything into winning that tourney. It will be an uphill battle for sure.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by mrdeeds

Isn't Mexico depleted for the Copa America? When I watch the final of the Gold Cup, I heard a lot of regulars were going on vacation after and the team basically put everything into winning that tourney. It will be an uphill battle for sure.

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sowa

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

This is true. Although for the US, the MLS season goes through the summer while most other leagues are finishing. The reason for sending a depleted Mexico and US squad though does stem somewhat from them being the Invitees to the tournament and not regulars.

[FlamingLonghorn]

1 - 0 MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! beautiful goal.....

[Thunderball]

2-0 Mexico!

Wow, I bet Brazil is regretting leaving their stars at home now...

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

2-0 Mexico!

Wow, I bet Brazil is regretting leaving their stars at home now...

Wow, if it weren't for the famous bright yellow jerseys I'd never guess that was Brazil. Might be the worse I've ever seen them. Their U-20 that's in Montreal now might be better than these guys... who are these guys?

[troutman]

Castilo from MEX is going to be a major star. In the 1st half he nearly went through the whole BRA team before losing control. His goal was a thing of beauty, and he should have scored at the end of the game too.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Wow, if it weren't for the famous bright yellow jerseys I'd never guess that was Brazil. Might be the worse I've ever seen them. Their U-20 that's in Montreal now might be better than these guys... who are these guys?

Looked like Gilberto Silva, Robinho and a bunch of rejects.... just poor from Brazil... I wonder what those announcers were saying about them.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Sowa

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by troutman

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

Yes and No.

Yes, Its the bigger deal to the world, since there are much higher profile teams and much more intense competition... not the frequent Mexico and USA (or shock finalist)slap everyone around en route to playing each other that the Gold Cup is.

On the other hand, Copa America is not nearly as winnable as the Gold Cup is... the North American entrants are typically soundly thrashed and sent home. So, may as well experiment with some new players (which seemed to really pay off for Mexico)

[Locke]

Originally Posted by troutman

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

Yes, and no. To quote Thunderball . Mexico (and the US) is an invite to the Copa America. Its not a regular tournament for them, so getting Club disclosure is a lot harder, and getting anyone to care is too.

Mexico's Captain, Pavel Pardo left right after the Gold Cup to go back to Germany where he played for his club, VFB Stuttgart, to seal the Bundesliga title.

Why would he care about the Copa America? Brazil and Argentina mail it in every time and win anyways. As an invitee, why should Mexico care?

This isnt to take away from their accomplishment, they play very well regardless and were one of my favorites at the last World Cup. But theres a lot of bureaucracy involved and alot of other crap too.

Locke.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

Looked like Gilberto Silva, Robinho and a bunch of rejects.... just poor from Brazil... I wonder what those announcers were saying about them.

They were saying that basically Brazil just looked shocked. After the first goal they weren't able to recover and it was a poor start for a team that, on paper anyway, looked like second favorite going into this tournament. The man who is definitely feeling the heat now is new head coach Dunga. This is his first major tournament in this capicity and is playing a mostly internationally inexperienced team. The goalkeeper was playing in his first game with Brazil and looked nervous, especially with the second goal where he didn't even move off his line. I think Brazil will recover from this game and come out more in control of the next one. Mexico did play a pretty good game and it was nice to see Castillo taking control the way he did.

Argentina - USA tomorrow. That one should be entertaining, and interesting to see what Veron and Riquelme, who play a very similar style, play the midfield together. The only shock for me is that Tevez is on the bench for this one. With the way he finished his season in the EPL, I thought he would be a certain member of that lineup.

[mrdeeds]

Kudos to Mexico for finally demonstrating their talent and heart. Robinho can't do it all for Brazil.

Argentina-USA will be a great match.... for Argentina that is..

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by sadora

They were saying that basically Brazil just looked shocked. After the first goal they weren't able to recover and it was a poor start for a team that, on paper anyway, looked like second favorite going into this tournament. The man who is definitely feeling the heat now is new head coach Dunga. This is his first major tournament in this capicity and is playing a mostly internationally inexperienced team. The goalkeeper was playing in his first game with Brazil and looked nervous, especially with the second goal where he didn't even move off his line. I think Brazil will recover from this game and come out more in control of the next one. Mexico did play a pretty good game and it was nice to see Castillo taking control the way he did.

Argentina - USA tomorrow. That one should be entertaining, and interesting to see what Veron and Riquelme, who play a very similar style, play the midfield together. The only shock for me is that Tevez is on the bench for this one. With the way he finished his season in the EPL, I thought he would be a certain member of that lineup.

They were definitely something... I guess shocked works. They had some hard luck early on, but Mexico really seemed to handle them.

I was shocked how bad Diego was... he was always so strong with Werder and as a probable Juventus target, I watched him with great concern.

You're right though... Argentina-US is going to be a great game... I think I might miss it though, which sucks... I'm also very curious to see Gabriel Milito in action, another probable Juve signing.

[sadora]

I don't know how many saw the Argentina vs USA game here but IMO it was a great show if possesion football from Argentina. Though the USA did play a good defensive game, Argentina managed to break through a few times during the game for some very good opportunities. Lionel Messi's genius play was the difference for Argentina's second goal, which proved to be the eventual game winner. 4 - 1 the final score favoring Argentina.

[mrdeeds]

Good win for Argentina. The US scoring the 1st goal gave me a scare, I have to say. The talent of Argentina just could not be stopped.

[Maserati]

good match that..the commentators on Gol TV are the worse ..that man should be shot for the kind of comments he makes..next match I'll have the tv on mute.

good work argentina the yanks got me a bit worried witht hat first goal though.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Maserati

good match that..the commentators on Gol TV are the worse ..that man should be shot for the kind of comments he makes..next match I'll have the tv on mute.

good work argentina the yanks got me a bit worried witht hat first goal though.

I was going to say something along those lines too. That commentator was such an outrageous, shameless homer for the States it was unbelievable. I think I'd rather watch it in spanish.

Firstly, I'll say the US played a 'decent' game. Nothing more than that though. They played the game technically, fairly well for the first half and 15 minutes of the second. The commentator did state that they played the game exactly as the coach drew it up. Okay, but you cant win games that way if theres no creativity. The US displayed zero creativity that entire game. They just got back, cleared the ball and hoped for the best, thats not creative thats desperate.

The US sucked on every free kick they got. They were awarded several free kicks from really good position and they wasted every one. Conversely Argentina was absolutely lethal with every free kick and corner and the US was thoroughly inept at defending from a dead ball situation and it cost them two goals. They lost the game on that merit alone.

The US sucked in open play. The Argentine goalie didnt make 1 save in open play. They never even hit him with a shot. I dont see what that commentator was so proud about.

That was a display of strong technical skill in some areas, and remarkably weak skill in others (see dead ball plays and play in general), but also, the US played a desperate defensive game doing whatever they could to hold Argentina back, and when they went down by a goal, they quit and Argentina added 2 more easy ones.

Argentina didnt play all that well either to be fair. But thats expected, you want your team to peak after the group stage, not in their first game.

I think that commentator pissed me off more than anything else, they have to find some decent guys to call the games.

Locke.