2016 COPA America Centenario

#26      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Joel Goodson said:
It'll be Brazil. No way is Columbia going to lose.
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I don't think Columbia will lose either, but I think there is a decent chance Brazil could lose to Peru. They didn't look good against Ecuador and they beat arguably the worst team in the tournament by 6.

And actually, I just saw that Columbia made 10 changes to their starting XI so anything could happen in that game too.
 
#33      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Actually I'm wrong. Brazil have to draw or win to make it out of the group. A loss and they'd be out of the tournament assuming Ecuador beats Haiti. So they'll definitely play their strongest squad.
 
#35      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
USA's next match will be Thursday night in Seattle. Kickoff is set for 8:30 PM CT and the match will air on FS1.
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Probably versus Ecuador. Like Paraguay, hardly a gimme. But definitely a winnable match. CenturyLink Stadium should be an utter madhouse and a showcase for US football. Win and face Messi and company in the semis. Titanic.
 
#36      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Joel Goodson said:
Probably versus Ecuador. Like Paraguay, hardly a gimme. But definitely a winnable match. CenturyLink Stadium should be an utter madhouse and a showcase for US football. Win and face Messi and company in the semis. Titanic.
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Paul Carr and the SPI guys have Ecuador as the most likely opponent (63% chance) as well. Peru was at 33% and Brazil was at 4%.

Also read an interview with Tim Howard that said the U.S. wasn't thrilled about having to travel cross country, with one less rest day than had they finished 2nd in the group, rather than going about 95 miles up the Jersey Turnpike to play at MetLife Stadium.
 
#37      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Paul Carr and the SPI guys have Ecuador as the most likely opponent (63% chance) as well. Peru was at 33% and Brazil was at 4%.

Also read an interview with Tim Howard that said the U.S. wasn't thrilled about having to travel cross country, with one less rest day than had they finished 2nd in the group, rather than going about 95 miles up the Jersey Turnpike to play at MetLife Stadium.
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Counterbalanced by avoiding Brazil, having a good shot at the semis and playing in the best football atmosphere (with all due respect to Columbus & KC) in the US. I think they'll take the travel and 1 less rest day.
 
#38      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Joel Goodson said:
Probably versus Ecuador. Like Paraguay, hardly a gimme. But definitely a winnable match. CenturyLink Stadium should be an utter madhouse and a showcase for US football. Win and face Messi and company in the semis. Titanic.
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I wish CenturyLink had natural grass. We'd surely see a lot more USMNT games there if it was.
 
#40      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Ecuador defeats Haiti 4-0.

Ecuador will be USA's opponent in Seattle on Thursday. Brazil and Peru are currently playing for 1st in Group B. Brazil wins the group with at least a draw. Peru has to win to win the group. If Brazil and Peru draw, then it comes to goal differential as those two plus Ecuador would all be tied.
 
#41      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
Exhibit 1 for FIFA to change its rules for allowing video review.

That said, Brazil pretty much stank, at least to their lofty standards.
 
#44      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Not having Neymar probably didn't help much. Though they were pretty mediocre anyway so it likely wouldn't have mattered a lot.
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Like Messi doesn't matter a lot? Neymar is an offensive superstar. Brazil had virtually no punch. I think Neymar would have made a huge difference.
 
#45      

wettsten

wettsten
Chicago
wettsten
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Not having Neymar probably didn't help much. Though they were pretty mediocre anyway so it likely wouldn't have mattered a lot.
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just looking at their lineup, it's pretty underwhelming compared to previous brazilian teams. and not having neymar definitely doesn't help. i don't know how good ecuador and peru are but i'm not too surprised brazil didn't make it far.
 
#47      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Also did anybody see the MetLife Stadium field for the Ecuador vs Haiti game? It looked terrible, I hope it doesn't look like that for the final.
 
#48      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
Houston's field looked poor too. And Seattle's is turf. No bueno. You'd think good grass is a given in the richest country in the world. Go figure.
 
#49      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Joel Goodson said:
Houston's field looked poor too. And Seattle's is turf. No bueno. You'd think good grass is a given in the richest country in the world. Go figure.
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I think they put sod down on top of the turf in Seattle (and anywhere else that is turf). At least, that's what they did for the Gold Cup last summer. Turf isn't allowed in Concacaf so I'm guessing it's the same for Conmebol. But that stuff is pretty much impossible to lay perfectly.

After playing at Soldier Field, Messi said the ground made it difficult. He said the ground was hard and the grass was long. I guess those fields in Europe must really be as perfect as they look.