Argentina and Colombia to go toe to toe
Argentina have not won a competition since 1993 yet will be hoping the presence of the world’s best player can help them in their opening game of the 2019 Copa America against Colombia. Have a read of our preview here:
Mr Messi needs some help
If you look at the pressure faced by Lionel Messi every time he plays for his country you can see the weight of the nation resting on his shoulders.
The thing is, he has often been good enough to carry them through but he will need some help against a Colombia side that match up well against Argentina.
There has been a huge amount of negativity surrounding the national side in Argentina and, according to Kleberson, the star needs to block this out as much as possible.
“Messi needs to block out the negativity from everyone,” he said. “People expect him to play the same way playing for Argentina as he does when he plays for Barcelona.
“He needs to play with freedom, his fellow team-mates need to work hard to win the ball back and find Messi so he can have the ball at his feet.”
Easier said than done but the Barcelona star must try to find a way of playing with the same enjoyment he does in Spain in order for Argentina to stand any chance of breaking their tournament drought.
Colombia shaping up well
Given the talent available to them it won’t surprise many that the Colombians have an excellent record coming into the tournament that they won back in 2001 when on home soil.
They have to prove they can compete on the biggest stage but two three nil victories, the last against Peru, coming into this year’s finals show they are heading in the right direction. In fact, Colombia have won five of their last six games with the only defeat coming at the hands of South Korea so will be full of confidence heading into their first game.
The only worry for Colombia is the fitness of star forward Falcao who had to be withdrawn in the 3-0 win against Panama but he has insisted it will not impact his levels in the finals.
If he is fit then Colombia will have a great chance to upset the odds and have a good tournament.
Argentina v Colombia Copa America betting tip
Neither of these sides have been convincing at the back while they often have excellent attacking output. They are well matched and should produce an exciting game, therefore backing there to be over 2.5 goals at odds of 27/20 could end up being a nice little earner.
