Prediction: Argentina wins 2-1
Odds: 1/5
Match date: July 11
Stadium: Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes
The much anticipated match is about to take place just hours from now. The Copa America tournament has been an interesting series of games so far, and thus we can be sure to watch some real action tonight. So far the hosts of Copa America haven’t had much luck, scoring as little as 2 points from the two games they played already (two draws in a row). This game is especially important for Argentinians, since if they fail to beat their opponent, they will have to face elimination from the tournament.
On the other hand, we have Costa Rica, who began the tournament with a loss to Colombia. This failure probably rather motivated the team than discouraged them, because in the following game against Bolivia they won 2-0. With this score so far, Costa Rica is merely a point away from advancing to the next stage, but more importantly, dumping Argentina out of Copa America.
Messi, Argentina’s wonderchild and allegedly “the best player on the planet” turned out to be a big disappointment so far, failing to perform to expect levels in this tournament. His father, Jorge, attributes his son’s poor performance to “terrible pressure”, since Argentina’s playing high stakes here – they’re fighting for the first big trophy since 1993.
As for Argentina, their most likely starting formation will be: Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Javier Zanetti; Gago, Javier Mascherano; Aguero, Lionel Messi, Di Maria; Higuain.
What about Costa Rica? Here we have a team with basically nothing to lose, as there were REALLY few people that actually thought they might even score a winning game in this tournament. They will certainly try their best in the upcoming match, but I don’t think they have much chance against Argentina. Despite Messi’s poor performance, let’s not forget that Argentina has a really strong team. Even if their performance is poor in this game, they are most likely to win. And that’s why I’m putting 1 unit on Argentina tonight!