Copa America Host, U.S. Eliminated As Colombia Clinches Top Spot Over Brazil

The third and final matchday of the Copa América group stage has been completed and just eight teams remain. Only three wins stand between the trophy and one of these nations but first these are the line-ups at the quarter final stage:

Argentina V Ecuador

Venezuela V Canada

Uruguay V Brazil

Colombia V Panama

In a tie as glamorous as Uruguay V Brazil there is a lot to look forward to, but the rest of this tournament so far has taught us not to rule out any underdog teams elsewhere, so how did these teams manage matchday three and clinch their spots in the last eight?

Group A

Argentina fielded a much changed side in their last group game against Peru, who still might have progressed themselves with a shock victory. In the end a Messi-less Argentina would still run out 2-0 winners thanks to another double from Lautaro Martinez, who has been in ferocious form.

Elsewhere Canada and Chile played out a 0-0 draw that saw the North American side qualify for the quarters at the expense of both Chile and Peru. Coming into this tournament their form has been extremely poor and neither side managed to score a single goal in Group A. Canada on the other hand even looked competitive against Argentina, so they will be looking forward to their tie with Venezuela.

Group B

Venezuela have been in good form in recent World Cup qualifiers but nobody would have envisaged them winning this group with maximum points. The ‘vino tinto’ are in dreamland after defeating Ecuador, Mexico and Jamaica and they will fancy their chances at reaching the final four of this tournament for only the second time in their history.

Despite Ecuador having some incredible talent in their ranks they have been less than convincing up to now, and just about scraped into the last eight despite a drab 0-0 draw with Mexico and an opening match defeat to Venezuela. Unfortunately this means they will face holders Argentina in the next round and that will likely spell the end of an underwhelming tournament for a team that has promised so much and was capable of topping an even group.

Group C

In Group C Uruguay defeated the hosts U.S.A and they tumbled out of the tournament, a worrying sign for the USMNT just two years ahead of their home World Cup. The U.S were unhappy with some controversial decisions and aside from that they did show some Uruguayan vulnerabilities in defence that we didn’t see against the likes of Bolivia and Panama.

Things got so heated in this encounter that the referee refused to shake hands with Christian Pulisic at the end of the game. The U.S wanted answers about various calls, claiming offside on the Uruguay goal and asking for an early penalty. This was a really frustrating tournament for the hosts in the end.

Uruguay top the group thanks to that 1-0 victory and a 3-1 victory for Panama over Bolivia means that they will play the quarterfinals instead of the U.S. In reality it was matchday two against Panama that damaged the home team the most, as Uruguay was always going to be a tough challenge.

Group D

Colombia maintained their record unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Brazil. This result meant Colombia topped the group and Brazil had to settle for second place. Colombia looked more than able against Brazil, who have been their ‘bogey team’ on so many occasions, but this current ‘Cafetero’ squad seems to have something special.

A point for Brazil means they beat Costa Rica to second place in the group, even though Costa Rica defeated Paraguay on matchday three. Now Vinicius and company will take on Uruguay in a monster clash in the quarters. Colombia will face their neighbours to the north Panama; they may have shocked the host nation but they won’t have enough to ruffle the feathers of this fantastic Colombia team who are heading straight towards the Copa semifinals.

Argentina V Ecuador kicks off these unmissable quarterfinal fixtures on Thursday night. Venezuela takes on Canada on Friday and then on Saturday Colombia faces Panama and we finish with the big one; Uruguay against Brazil.