USA vs. Argentina | Copa America Centenario Semifinal Preview

The USMNT are riding high heading into the match in Houston, having won three matches in a row after dropping their group stage opener to Colombia way back on June 3. They’re hot, but Argentina are hotter. La Albiceleste have been the best team in the tournament, racking up a perfect 4-0-0 record and outscoring their opponents 14-2.<br /> Suspensions lead to questions<br /> <br /> If the US are to pull the upset on Tuesday, they’ll have to do it without three of their most important players. Midfielders Jermaine Jones (red card) and Alejandro Bedoya (yellow card accumulation) and forward Bobby Wood (yellow card accumulation) will all miss Tuesday’s match after running into disciplinary issues against Ecuador. U.S. Soccer's appeal of the Jones and Wood cards was rejected on Sunday.<br /> <br /> All three players had started all four of the US’s Copa America matches, and their absence leaves Jurgen Klinsmann with some difficult lineup questions. Will he replace Wood with another center forward or revert to a 4-3-3 formation? Could we see young guns Darlington Nagbe or Christian Pulisic in the midfield, or will veterans Kyle Beckerman and Graham Zusi get the nod?<br /> <br /> How Klinsmann lines them up on Tuesday could go a long way toward determining the result. If he gets the calculus right, the US could have a shot at shocking Argentina. If not? Things could get ugly.<br /> US on the brink of history<br /> <br /> A win on Tuesday would be a massive achievement for the US. Excluding the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the US have only made one prior appearance in the final of a major international tournament. That came back in 2009, when the USMNT shocked the world by defeating Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semifinals before losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to Brazil in the title game.<br /> <br /> The Americans do have some experience in the Copa America semis, having made it to the final four of the 1995 tournament. They couldn’t pull off a win in that match, falling 1-0 to Brazil in Uruguay before dropping the third-place match to Colombia to close the tournament.<br /> Magical Messi<br /> <br /> Leo Messi entered this tournament under a bit of a cloud: Would he be healthy after suffering a back injury against Honduras on May 27? Would he be focused on the tournament while dealing with a tax fraud case that had him in a Catalonia court room on June 2?<br /> <br /> Despite sitting out their opener against Chile and not starting until Friday’s quarterfinal win over Venezuela, Messi has been his magical self in the Copa. The Barcelona superstar has been the man of the tournament, currently sitting in second in the competition with four goals and adding a pair of assists in just 164 minutes of action.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The USMNT are riding high heading into the match in Houston, having won three matches in a row after dropping their group stage opener to Colombia way back on June 3. They’re hot, but Argentina are hotter. La Albiceleste have been the best team in the tournament, racking up a perfect 4-0-0 record and outscoring their opponents 14-2. Suspensions lead to questions If the US are to pull the upset on Tuesday, they’ll have to do it without three of their most important players. Midfielders Jermaine Jones (red card) and Alejandro Bedoya (yellow card accumulation) and forward Bobby Wood (yellow card accumulation) will all miss Tuesday’s match after running into disciplinary issues against Ecuador. U.S. Soccer's appeal of the Jones and Wood cards was rejected on Sunday. All three players had started all four of the US’s Copa America matches, and their absence leaves Jurgen Klinsmann with some difficult lineup questions. Will he replace Wood with another center forward or revert to a 4-3-3 formation? Could we see young guns Darlington Nagbe or Christian Pulisic in the midfield, or will veterans Kyle Beckerman and Graham Zusi get the nod? How Klinsmann lines them up on Tuesday could go a long way toward determining the result. If he gets the calculus right, the US could have a shot at shocking Argentina. If not? Things could get ugly. US on the brink of history A win on Tuesday would be a massive achievement for the US. Excluding the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the US have only made one prior appearance in the final of a major international tournament. That came back in 2009, when the USMNT shocked the world by defeating Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semifinals before losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to Brazil in the title game. The Americans do have some experience in the Copa America semis, having made it to the final four of the 1995 tournament. They couldn’t pull off a win in that match, falling 1-0 to Brazil in Uruguay before dropping the third-place match to Colombia to close the tournament. Magical Messi Leo Messi entered this tournament under a bit of a cloud: Would he be healthy after suffering a back injury against Honduras on May 27? Would he be focused on the tournament while dealing with a tax fraud case that had him in a Catalonia court room on June 2? So far, the answers are clear: Yes and yes. Despite sitting out their opener against Chile and not starting until Friday’s quarterfinal win over Venezuela, Messi has been his magical self in the Copa. The Barcelona superstar has been the man of the tournament, currently sitting in second in the competition with four goals and adding a pair of assists in just 164 minutes of action. <br /> <center> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- smel 2 --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-8045107268257721" data-ad-slot="8360218290" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </center>

USA vs. Argentina | Copa America Centenario Semifinal Preview

The USMNT are riding high heading into the match in Houston, having won three matches in a row after dropping their group stage opener to Co...

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Argentina vs Panama: Preview

Argentina take on Panama in the Group D fixture of the Copa America Centenario, knowing a win will confirm their place in the quarter finals.<br /> <br /> Tata Martino’s men made a flying start to their Copa America campaign defeating Chile 2-1 in their first match. The team that lined up without their star man Lionel Messi looked in control all way through the match. But they will be lamenting their poor finishing, unless otherwise they would have won by a bigger margin.<br /> <br /> Panama on their other hand made a dream start to their first ever Copa America tournament with a 2-1 win over Bolivia. They surprised Bolivia by their quick counter attacking football and had plenty of chances to score and even paid for those mistakes when Juan Carlos Arce cancelled out Blas Perez’s first half goal in the 54th minute. But Perez scored again within three minutes into the final whistle to take all three points from a match they deserved to win.<br /> Argentina vs Panama: Team News<br /> <br /> Lionel Messi remained on the bench for the whole of opening encounter against Chile and he is expected to start from the bench again to risk another injury. Nicolas Gaitan is expected to continue in the attack, with Erik Lamela also an option. No changes are expected to the line-up as Argentina looks for three points in Friday’s encounter.<br /> <br /> Panama has picked up five yellow cards in their first match against Bolivia, which includes three midfielders and goal scorer Blas Perez. In defense, the veteran Luis Henrique is expected to start in place of Harold Cummings and Abdiel Arroyo could replace Armando Cooper on the right side of midfield.<br /> Argentina Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)<br /> <br /> Romero – Rojo, Funes Mori, Otamendi, Mercado – Mascherano, Biglia, Banega – Di Maria, Gaitan, Higuain.<br /> Panama Predicted Line-up (4-4-2)<br /> <br /> Penedo – Miller, Henriquez, Baloy, Machado – Quintero, Godoy, Gomez, Arroyo – Torres, Perez.<br /> <center> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- smel 2 --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-8045107268257721" data-ad-slot="8360218290" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </center>

Argentina vs Panama: Preview

Argentina take on Panama in the Group D fixture of the Copa America Centenario, knowing a win will confirm their place in the quarter finals...

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Chile vs. Bolivia | Copa America Centenario Match Preview

Defending Copa America champions Chile and their underdog neighbors Bolivia will face down the prospect of an early flight home when they meet in New England on Friday night, with neither side able to afford further setbacks after losses in their opening matches.<br /> Can Chile chin up?<br /> <br /> La Roja stood toe to toe with vaunted Argentina – albeit with Lionel Messi on the bench – in their sold-out tournament opener, only to be undermined by a few crucial, timely errors in a 2-1 loss in Santa Clara, California. Conventional wisdom suggests that advancement to the knockout rounds can still be booked straightforwardly, however, as they're favored against Group D rivals Bolivia and Panama.<br /> <br /> But they'll have to hold their nerve. Chile actually saw more of the ball and completed more passes, and at a higher accuracy rate, than their illustrious opponents on Monday. Yet they struggled to carve out a proportionate number of clear chances in the Argentine box, and two costly turnovers were viciously punished by Angel di Maria and Ever Banega. They can expect even more of a reactive mentality from Bolivia, putting further onus on Alexis Sanchez and his attacking colleagues. Perhaps we'll see more of the hard pressing that marked Chile's salad days under Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli?<br /> Cross-Andes upset watch<br /> <br /> Bolivia are one of only two CONMEBOL nations to have tasted defeat to CONCACAF opposition in this event thus far, having fallen 2-1 to Panama in a scrappy but absorbing encounter in rain-soaked Orlando on Monday. So La Verde are now in real trouble if they want to buck their historical reputation and sneak into the quarterfinals again, as they did in last year's edition. Speaking of history, they could turn to geopolitics for motivation: These two nations share an uneasy history and have even gone to war in the past, with landlocked Bolivia's access to the Pacific Coast a long-running grievance.<br /> <br /> Their goal vs. Panama came from Juan Carlos Arce ramming home a close-range finish after a set-piece delivery into the Canaleros' penalty area was poorly dealt with, and similar opportunism on restarts could be the key to knocking off Chile. Arce is arguably Bolivia's most dangerous attacker, though North American audiences may want to keep an eye on New York Cosmos striker Yasmani Duk. His looks at goal are generally few and far between in manager Julio Cesar Baldivieso's defensive-minded formation, however.<br /> Gotta be better, Bravo<br /> <br /> Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo plays his club soccer at mighty FC Barcelona, yet his Copa campaign got off to a nightmarish start. Both of Argentina's goals slipped inside his near post, a cardinal sin for a 'keeper – though it may be harsh to assign him blame for Banega's winner, which took a nasty deflection off his teammate Mauricio Isla's boot. Chile manager Juan Antonio Pizzi during his postgame press conference backed up Bravo on the second goal, saying the 'keeper was in position to make the save before the deflection.<br /> <br /> Bolivia are unlikely to be quite so merciless. That said, it's imperative that Bravo provide a stable, confidence-inducing foundation for colleagues like Sanchez and Arturo Vidal to build upon in more advanced areas. <br /> <center> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- smel 2 --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-8045107268257721" data-ad-slot="8360218290" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </center>

Chile vs. Bolivia | Copa America Centenario Match Preview

Defending Copa America champions Chile and their underdog neighbors Bolivia will face down the prospect of an early flight home when they me...

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Mexico vs Jamaica: Preview

Mexico Successfully beat Uruguay 3-1 in their first game on Sunday as the two teams were reduced to men each during the game, Mexico’s first goal came from an own goal in the 4th minute. They were in total control of the ball and dominated the first half of the game.<br /> Mexico are now one win away from knock-out rounds or 2 points from the remaining two games can equally do the magic. They will be hoping to build on their first game success to win this game to add more problems to Jamaica’s already bruised ego.<br /> <br /> Jamaica on the other hand had a bad outing in the first game against the group’s underdogs Venezuela losing 1-0 in Chicago, they are expecting a better performance against the Mexicans. If the reggae boys lose this match, that will confirm they are out of the tournament. And head-coach Winfried Schäfer does not want a repeat of last year’s Copa America, where his team lost all three group matches by 1-0.<br /> Mexico: Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)<br /> <br /> Talavero – Moreno, Marquez, Araujo, Layun – Reyes, Herrera, Duenas – Corona, Aquino, Hernandez.<br /> Jamaica: Starting Line up (4-4-2)<br /> <br /> Blake – Watson, Mariappa, Taylor, Lawrence – McCleary, Grant, Hector, McAnuff – Barnes, Donaldson.<br /> <br /> <center> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- smel 2 --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-8045107268257721" data-ad-slot="8360218290" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </center> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://leaguelane.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mexico-vs-Jamaica-Match-Kick-Off-Time-Copa-America-Centenario-Group-C-10-June-2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="44" src="http://leaguelane.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mexico-vs-Jamaica-Match-Kick-Off-Time-Copa-America-Centenario-Group-C-10-June-2016.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />

Mexico vs Jamaica: Preview

Mexico Successfully beat Uruguay 3-1 in their first game on Sunday as the two teams were reduced to men each during the game, Mexico’s first...

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