Copa ‘24: Should Have Been a Yellow
- Thread starter 67YAZ
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Quick rundown of some teams:
Argentina returns pretty much everyone to a man (save a banged up Enzo) from the WC winning squad. They should be heavy favorites to defend their title. Probably the biggest intrigue surrounding this team for me are 1) whether Lisandro will supplant or merely support Otamendi next to Romero, 2) who the best 3 strikers are (Spoiler: It's still Messi, Alvarez, ADM), but really how capable the backups like Lautaro and Garnacho are, and 3) what does this team look like if and when they play without Messi. The hope is we see continued performance from the likes of Mac Allister, De Paul, and GLC, and we see some new starters begin to emerge from Palacios, Balerdi, Carboni, etc.
Brazil is obviously a talented squad like always, but I'm baffled by their lack of quality in the backline and the omission of some players. Gabriel and Marquinhos are solid starters, but I've never trusted Militao and I suspect most Brazil fans are still traumatized by ADM racing by him for Argentina's goal in the last final. There's no real elite talent at either FB spot, and I'm surprised a player like Emerson Royal hasn't been given more run. The MF will be good at a minimum with Guimaraes and Paqueta, but they need a shuttler to emerge from the talented group of Douglas Luiz, Ederson, Gomes, etc. Up front should be fierce, with Vini, Rodrygo, Richarlison (is he getting called?), Martinelli, Raphinha, Endrick, etc. That front line alone should get them to the QF without breaking a sweat. But when you go up against an Uruguay or Argentina, the backline takes on more importance.
Uruguay are probably the third most talented squad at the Copa and they have Bielsa at the helm, so it'll be fun if nothing else. They have some elite starters in Araujo, Darwin, Valverde, Ugarte, and aren't bad thru the best XI, but there's little depth. However, Bielsa's system allows for weaker players to benefit from a cohesive collective, so I'd be surprised if they don't make it to the QF (barring an earlier matchup with Argentina or Brazil).
I'm not terribly impressed with Colombia's squad, which makes their trouncing of the USMNT all the more alarming.
Ecuador continues to punch above their weight, as they showed against Argentina the other night. This team is cohesive and a tough out. Super young team too and they will continue to grow together. Has to be exciting for fans of La Tri!
Mexico has some decent talent and it's all young, but they don't inspire confidence. Perhaps they're more cohesive than I give them credit for (TBF many more of them are playing in Liga MX than in recent memory) but I don't think they're challenging for honors.
Canada is my dark horse to make some noise. They have a good young squad with a couple of headliners--not a bad recipe for international cup football. They have a real chance to make it out of the group.
Argentina returns pretty much everyone to a man (save a banged up Enzo) from the WC winning squad. They should be heavy favorites to defend their title. Probably the biggest intrigue surrounding this team for me are 1) whether Lisandro will supplant or merely support Otamendi next to Romero, 2) who the best 3 strikers are (Spoiler: It's still Messi, Alvarez, ADM), but really how capable the backups like Lautaro and Garnacho are, and 3) what does this team look like if and when they play without Messi. The hope is we see continued performance from the likes of Mac Allister, De Paul, and GLC, and we see some new starters begin to emerge from Palacios, Balerdi, Carboni, etc.
Brazil is obviously a talented squad like always, but I'm baffled by their lack of quality in the backline and the omission of some players. Gabriel and Marquinhos are solid starters, but I've never trusted Militao and I suspect most Brazil fans are still traumatized by ADM racing by him for Argentina's goal in the last final. There's no real elite talent at either FB spot, and I'm surprised a player like Emerson Royal hasn't been given more run. The MF will be good at a minimum with Guimaraes and Paqueta, but they need a shuttler to emerge from the talented group of Douglas Luiz, Ederson, Gomes, etc. Up front should be fierce, with Vini, Rodrygo, Richarlison (is he getting called?), Martinelli, Raphinha, Endrick, etc. That front line alone should get them to the QF without breaking a sweat. But when you go up against an Uruguay or Argentina, the backline takes on more importance.
Uruguay are probably the third most talented squad at the Copa and they have Bielsa at the helm, so it'll be fun if nothing else. They have some elite starters in Araujo, Darwin, Valverde, Ugarte, and aren't bad thru the best XI, but there's little depth. However, Bielsa's system allows for weaker players to benefit from a cohesive collective, so I'd be surprised if they don't make it to the QF (barring an earlier matchup with Argentina or Brazil).
I'm not terribly impressed with Colombia's squad, which makes their trouncing of the USMNT all the more alarming.
Ecuador continues to punch above their weight, as they showed against Argentina the other night. This team is cohesive and a tough out. Super young team too and they will continue to grow together. Has to be exciting for fans of La Tri!
Mexico has some decent talent and it's all young, but they don't inspire confidence. Perhaps they're more cohesive than I give them credit for (TBF many more of them are playing in Liga MX than in recent memory) but I don't think they're challenging for honors.
Canada is my dark horse to make some noise. They have a good young squad with a couple of headliners--not a bad recipe for international cup football. They have a real chance to make it out of the group.
Argentina announced their final squad and there's a couple of notable inclusions and omissions. A pair of 19 year olds (!) are on the plane to Atlanta in Garnacho and Carboni. I expect both of them to get plenty of PT, as Scaloni has shown he wants a lot of rotation from his forwards. That said, they're clearly behind Messi, ADM, Julian, and Lautaro. I'll be curious to see if Scaloni sees Nico Gonzalez' future as a LB, where he tried him for a couple of matches.
Sadly, there was no room for Angel Correa, Leo Balerdi, and Valentin Barco. For Angelito that's likely the end of his Int'l career at 29 years old and a lot of talent coming up behind him. I'm very disappointed there wasn't room for Balerdi, who is a tall 25 year old CB who just had an excellent season at Marseille where he played over 3500 minutes. More importantly, Pezzella (Betis) is 32 and Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina) is 28. TBF, both also played 3000+ minutes for their clubs that probably had better seasons in better leagues than Marseille. Barco is another 19 year old who plays at LB (or LMF/LW) for Brighton, but he's just got two established vets ahead of him in Acuna and Tagliafico who are likely to age out soon. Not to mention that Lisandro can push out to LB if Scaloni wants to follow the trend of playing CBs out wide (does ETH follow suit at Manchester quizas)?
In the MF, the only real interest I have is whether Leverkusen's Palacios begins to push for more PT. While he plays a different position, I'd prefer to see him out there over Paredes, and the real interest is to see whether he can supplant GLC.
Regardless, Argentina is a wagon again for this tournament and the betting favorites (+175) with Brazil at +220. I'll be in Atlanta for the opening game, and still trying to figure out if I can make it to Miami. Vamos Argentina!!
Sadly, there was no room for Angel Correa, Leo Balerdi, and Valentin Barco. For Angelito that's likely the end of his Int'l career at 29 years old and a lot of talent coming up behind him. I'm very disappointed there wasn't room for Balerdi, who is a tall 25 year old CB who just had an excellent season at Marseille where he played over 3500 minutes. More importantly, Pezzella (Betis) is 32 and Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina) is 28. TBF, both also played 3000+ minutes for their clubs that probably had better seasons in better leagues than Marseille. Barco is another 19 year old who plays at LB (or LMF/LW) for Brighton, but he's just got two established vets ahead of him in Acuna and Tagliafico who are likely to age out soon. Not to mention that Lisandro can push out to LB if Scaloni wants to follow the trend of playing CBs out wide (does ETH follow suit at Manchester quizas)?
In the MF, the only real interest I have is whether Leverkusen's Palacios begins to push for more PT. While he plays a different position, I'd prefer to see him out there over Paredes, and the real interest is to see whether he can supplant GLC.
Regardless, Argentina is a wagon again for this tournament and the betting favorites (+175) with Brazil at +220. I'll be in Atlanta for the opening game, and still trying to figure out if I can make it to Miami. Vamos Argentina!!
The audio seems way behind the video on FS1, but maybe that's just my feed?
Or, are the broadcasters watching a tv in a studio in New Jersey or something?
Or, are the broadcasters watching a tv in a studio in New Jersey or something?
I was thinking the same thing
The called they dummy from Di Maria to Messi like 30 seconds late
I’ll take that … 0-0 at the half and Canada with a couple of grade A chances - could easily be ahead
He’s going to be telling his grand kids how he stared down the immortal Messi on a breakaway
(Twice)
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Shaffelburg looks crazy dangerous every time I see him in MLS, surprised he isn’t playing in Europe
I was in the house for this last night. Atmosphere pregame around town and the stadium was far superior to in the Benz. Too many non-Argentine Argentina fans and the place is ginormous. I thought Canada was very well organized and quite threatening on the counter when they could break. Both teams looked rusty, but Argentina in particular looked like they had several ideas of what they wanted to do but either those ideas didn't work or they couldn't execute. The biggest example was putting ADM on the RW in the first half, which I assume was to create overloads but basically just left them very unbalanced and ineffective. When ADM switched to LW later in the half Argentina improved. I also thought that Paredes had a really rough game and the MF lacked mobility. Argentina can really challenge other teams when Enzo, Mac, and RDP (GLC too) interchange, and Paredes doesn't bring that to the table. Messi looks like he's been playing in the MLS for the last few months and was off the pace. The team got him into good positions several times and those attacks fizzled. The team improved a lot when Otamendi came on. Romero is among the best CBs in the world. He's super physical, intelligent, and excellent on the ball. Nothing the guy can't do. I expect Canada to advance out of the group in second. Sat next to some Canucks and they were swell.
Ecuador- Venezuela has started out pretty physically, even by CONMEBOL standards. Ecuador is a dark horse favorite.
Kendry Páez is making his Copa America debut. Super gifted and nifty 17 year old from the little I’ve seen from him. I imagine we will all know him better a year from now.
Kendry Páez is making his Copa America debut. Super gifted and nifty 17 year old from the little I’ve seen from him. I imagine we will all know him better a year from now.
No better case for other federations to adopt the UEFA rule about swarming the ref than what just unfolded in the Ecuador-Venezuela match.
Half the Ecuadorian squad following the ref from the 18 to the VAR review and barking at him while he tried to look at the monitor. Didn't even have enough room to dig into his pocket at one point.
Half the Ecuadorian squad following the ref from the 18 to the VAR review and barking at him while he tried to look at the monitor. Didn't even have enough room to dig into his pocket at one point.
Páez with a passage of play that has everyone excited, an old school pausa out wide, then darts into the box to get off a one time shot.
Valencia, Ecuador’s captain, then gets a deserved red for cleating a Venezuela player in the neck on the ensuing rebound. The game has turned but I still wouldn’t put it past Ecuador to win this.
Valencia, Ecuador’s captain, then gets a deserved red for cleating a Venezuela player in the neck on the ensuing rebound. The game has turned but I still wouldn’t put it past Ecuador to win this.