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WCAD 3-16: Copa América Preview
80 Plays1 year ago
Austin and Amit get together for a high-level Copa América Preview. Can anyone challenge Argentina? What's up with Brazil? Can Colombia and Uruguay *really* win it all? Plus, Austin's theory of why Bolivia are so bad.
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Transcript
Introduction and Copa America Hype
00:00:00
Speaker
There's something about the day when a major international tournament starts. There's something about that day when it's also a holiday in the country, the defending champions of that major national tournament, and also the last major national tournament. That's where we are today. Good Thursday morning to you on the World Cup After Dark podcast. I am Austin Miller. He is a well-caffeinated Amit Malek. I mean, thanks for the early time slot here today. I got to go grill some meat and watch Argentina play some football. Can can you think of a better day? Not at all. That is the best way to experience some international football. Started a major tournament just like you said. um Yeah, got the coffee going. Got Slovenia, Serbia going on in the Euros as well. We're just happy to be here. Yeah,
Team Familiarity and Group Dynamics
00:00:39
Speaker
it's good. It's good. So on today's show, we're going to preview Copa America. um Look, let's be completely honest of it. These are teams that you and I have talked about a lot on this show.
00:00:48
Speaker
There's no need for us to to to run through the the who's who and the what's what of these teams. um We've done that a lot on these shows. So I think let's let's try and take this preview and and look at it in an interesting way and and kind of go group by group here and talk about some of the big questions of these groups. Yeah, just high level stuff. I think you nailed it. We've talked about these teams. You probably know a lot of these teams. but I do. I definitely do. The listeners probably do as well. Yeah, that was my point. Well, obviously, you do. The listeners probably do. These are familiar faces, player-wise, narrative-wise, coaching-wise, which is great. And I just think, in general, it's 16 teams. The format here is a bit of a slow burn, um given the disparities between the different tiers of teams in this tournament. Not that we're going to go roll it out, but you know your Argentina's Brazil's of the world, that you have the teams behind them, the teams behind them, right the Colombians and Uruguay's, and then the United States. and
Argentina's Favoritism and Group A Challengers
00:01:43
Speaker
It's all a bit stratified and the way the tournament works is there's not gonna be that much drama in the group stage outside of maybe a group we're hoping for more. And then you kind of are getting a slow march to what should be some Titanic ah late ah knockout round blockbusters, which is great for us. Again, we hope so, ah that we get those games, but um it's it's probably going to be a little less dramatic than what we're seeing at the Euros, what we saw at the Afghan in a
00:02:17
Speaker
in January and probably less dramatic than the Asian one too. It's going to be a little more stratified because of the the clear gaps between tiers of teams. I think that's that's absolutely a perfect way of looking at this, while also acknowledging that there are, I think by our count, you know five pretty safe bets to make the next round. That's Argentina and Group A, the US and Uruguay in their group, Colombia brazil and Brazil in their group. They'll leave three spots in the knockout round. So those will be interesting fights. um And then look, once you get into the knockout round, anything can happen. So a slow burn can be expected, but who knows? Something might happen, and then it gets interesting.
00:02:53
Speaker
Yeah, and there's still three spots, as you said, that are pretty open and... You know, odds are one of those five that we're a penciling in will be interesting and maybe not in. So like that's the way it works through. We got to play these games. And there's a super interesting group that we'll get to in a second in groupie. So let's start in group A. i Argentina, world champions, defending champions of Copa America. I think pressure and motivation is a super interesting question that we'll get answers to as we go. All of the main characters from the World Cup, except for Paulo de Bala. And I don't even know how main of a character was. He took a penalty in the World Cup finals, like he's a main character.
00:03:27
Speaker
ah But Argentina, we know what we expect here. I don't think they're going to be troubled in the group stage, but I think the the whole like motivation pressure question is is super interesting with them. yeah they kept it going after the World Cup. They started World Cup qualifying rolled through. It's literally what we talk about here. We've been keeping tabs and this kind of golden aura has not ah worn off at all yet. But at some point it will. Whether that's here 26 who knows. and Let's see I mean they definitely have
00:03:58
Speaker
not that much motivation. Um, but like it's, it's the cope America. It's a major turn. They're obviously motor. I'm not saying that yeah here but that's why we're talking
Analyzing Group B: Strengths and Weaknesses
00:04:08
Speaker
about there's not the motivation that there was in 21 when they won after such a long time. There's not the motivation that there was in 22 and guitar. And I'm curious to see how that plays out. That could be a good thing for them. There's no pressure here. We've done everything. They can just go play really well and win again. Yeah, the pressure is on their biggest rival Brazil to do something. And there's pressure on the United States, the hosts. I just, you know, they've they've done it all. And I think if they don't win this tournament, um no one internally externally is going to be super mad as long as they don't look horrible.
00:04:43
Speaker
yeah which they're going to play their, they're the most talented team. So like, I, it could be a good thing for them. We'll see what they show up. You know, the guys messy is still offensively the genius gifted. Like it, you know, he's still effective in MLS. He's going to be at his best here. They've built this team around him. This is the same team you saw in 2022. Enjoy it. Enjoy them playing their soccer. Well, you get it in another major tournament and he's still pretty close to his peak. Also, their group is phenomenally easy, right? Like their path to the final, I think you can make the argument that the next four best teams in this tournament, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, and the United States are all on the other side of the bracket. Mexico is the seeded team, the other group. And as we'll get to in a second, that's not much to be afraid of. So Argentina not making the final would be a disappointment, not because it would be them not making the final, but because they have a path that is is phenomenally easy. The rest of the teams in this group is where it gets interesting. i mean
00:05:40
Speaker
ah Chile have looked better under Ricardo. They're still really old. But look, they've been really old for a long time now. They've they've figured out how to play with that. Peru are even older. ah Their average age in their last friendly in El Salvador was 30.2, which is just absolutely ridiculous to me. um Canada have Jesse Marsh in in some federation issues. This is an intriguing little battle for a second, right? Yeah, these are three solid teams. I know Peru is not that good, but like they're not bad. we' We've seen Peru be very competent and they've got plenty of good players. Chile, I mean, yeah, I don't know how else to explain what's happened in the past year other than the charlo gariica yeah other than the manager has given them purpose. It's the same guy. You're still a little old, but like there's quality here. I mean, i hopefully he's gotten more out of their younger players and like
00:06:35
Speaker
maybe done that a little bit. This is a very interesting battle. I think all three of these teams when they play each other are gonna have really good matches. um And interesting stylistically, you know what you're getting out of a Jesse Marsh Canada, what you're getting out of a old but revitalized and super passionate Chile. Peru play but as South America soccer goes, very boring soccer and defensive. Like they love ah the love zeros. They'll play for that. so like Yeah, the onus is on, I think, Canada to to like show me show us some attacking, show us some Jesse Marsh attacking soccer. At the same time, like they're not great defensively. So um there's chances the other way. These should be really fun games where they're incentivized to to go for it. I think you can talk yourself into all of those games being really interesting. um It's going to be tough because the goal difference could be tough with Argentina. yep um
00:07:30
Speaker
i I mean, I think it comes down to who you back between Chile and Canada. And the Greco bounce is honestly saying the answer is Chile right now, even if a year ago, that sounds kind of crazy. Yep. I think I agree with you. If any of these teams can pick anything up from their Argentina match, that would be fundamentally large. Chile, I think, have
Uruguay's Winning Potential and Group C Challenges
00:07:50
Speaker
the benefit of playing Argentina last. There's a very real scenario in which a six point Argentina side has already clinched the group. They rotate and Chile can pick something up in that game. I think on paper,
00:08:01
Speaker
it's hard to say that can like I think Canada's squad talent wise is a little better than Chile's. But given everything, I'm not sure I can count on Canada to to be better. yeah It's a new manager and it's the we love a new manager balance, but it's like he's not so settled in yet. and i there While there's talent, it's not necessarily all fitting together. It's um a lot of attacking talent in Europe and MLS, but like Canada has not shown they can, like, defend in a closed game ever in this era of them. It's also a super specific style that they're trying to play, and implementing that's going to take time. They're, I think, a really interesting team at the Scope America. This is a big moment for them because they're in the exact same boat as the US and Mexico. This is the last time they play anybody that's not the US and Mexico in a big match until the World Cup kicks off.
00:08:52
Speaker
All right. Group be a mitt. This is an interesting little group because I think all 14s in this group will feel like they can get out of it. Mexico have a slightly experimental squad. They might also just be bad. They got rocked by Oduwina friendly, bounced back for a decent enough 3-2 loss against Brazil. I have no idea what they are um right now, but there's maybe a team somewhere in in this squad list of players. The group obviously helps them. Venezuela, we've talked about them a ton. They've been surprisingly good at World Cup qualifying. They're a team on the rise. This tournament comes at a good time for them. Ecuador, you know the story here. but Lots of good young players, a couple of older veterans, a manager that is under a bit of pressure, hasn't had a ton of great results. And then Jamaica, because you're just intrigued to see what happens. um
00:09:34
Speaker
They've got Leon Bailey in the squad, but not actually with the team. He's not going to play, but they put him in the squad anyway. Their sheer speed can really trouble some of these slower South American and Mexican back lines. Um, don't let tomorrow, Nicholson, Damari gray, et cetera, run into space. Cause it might be difficult. And there's opportunity with the group. This is a super interesting group of it. Totally. I agree. All four teams can talk themselves into it. Um, you know, Venezuela are definitely, uh, I think both of ours, maybe a little like darling team that we like to talk about. They've really impressed in World Cup qualifying. This is a big measuring stick to see if any of that was real. And again, it's all, as we love to say, small sample sizes. It's only been a few games in, uh, common ball qualifying. It's only a three game group here, but like, let's see if Venezuela is the project that we're, you know, talking about.
00:10:23
Speaker
They're prone to implosion at all times, because they're Venezuela. Like, they can show up and not be good. um But if this is real, they should get above this Mexico team, which is very like middling. How else do you want to say it? You look at the squad. Edson Alvarez is great. OK. Santi Jimenez at Finord
Group D Predictions and Brazil's Consistency Issues
00:10:44
Speaker
is great. And then it's really not a lot else. And there's hit marks that got memo. no they they moved on from him and and honestly the defending the defenders here are all League MX guys that have just do not inspire a ton of confidence um not all League MX guys but ah mostly guys that don't inspire a ton of confidence like they're just how many difference makers are in the squad like yep
00:11:11
Speaker
I think you could say there's more on Venezuela, right? If you're going to say Solomon Rondon is cooking those same league MX defenders um in the league MX where cooking is a little bit easier when you don't have to run so much Solomon Rondon, but, um, you know, Jefferson Sateldo is, is the, maybe the best attacker in this group. but yeah He could be. If he is, then Venezuela is going to be good. I don't want to, you know. no no Ecuador is better than all of these teams, but they're not so much better that they're going to run into first. Right. I mean, this is a really good, fun group. None of these teams are that good. I think if you're power ranking them, you'd probably go Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica. If you want the World Cup after dark power rankings, we'd flip flop Venezuela and Mexico because we're bullish on them.
00:12:00
Speaker
um They're going to have to play the games and find out. And I think things are in a bad spot for Mexico right now. Things are in a fun spot for Ecuador and Venezuela right now. And Jamaica are like pure chaos. Like they don't have any of their own stuff together. So like. It could be spectacularly horrible against three motivated teams or they could be the exact type of spoilers to like make this even more fun. This is where the fun is at this whole for the first two weeks of this Copa is in this group. Yeah. And Jamaica plays such a different style to what you're going to see from so many of these teams. South American teams can't really play bunker counter. Like some of them will try, but they're generally just not the pure speed to pull it off.
00:12:42
Speaker
Jamaica have the pure speed to pull off the bunker counter type game. So I think it's it's like you said, but this is the group that we're going to end up probably zeroing in on more than any other group. And and it's absolutely fascinating. If I had to put you on the spot, who's getting out of this group? i'm I'd say Ecuador and Venezuela. And I think that's maybe a little
00:13:03
Speaker
Boring, honestly, not boring. I mean, I don't know, is Venezuela like mexicoica going out of a cup America in the US in the group stage? It's certainly not boring. oh No, no, you're right. that's not That's not boring at all. That's actually quite spicy. um I could be wrong. I think Mexico, ah overall, talent-wise, maybe player for player is better than Venezuela, but let's see it. I mean, there's a lot of pressure on them right now, and they haven't responded to any of that well. um Ecuador, as we talked about in our World Cup qualifying, if you look at the roster, just very very good talented team. They know what they're doing. Listen, are they elite at scoring goals? They're really good at controlling games and defendings. Enter Valencia
Final Predictions: Argentina vs. Uruguay
00:13:41
Speaker
is still at this level a really good like Copa America type striker to like bang in those goals.
00:13:49
Speaker
You know, it could be, it could, there's the most variance here, but I, I'm going to stick to the Venezuela pick. I've, you know, I got burned in my Euro dark horse pick, uh, over with Ukraine. So like, don't take what I say like too seriously, like, but I like it. I like, I want, I want it to go like that. All right, I will take Ecuador to win the group and Mexico to go through as like a disappointing second and then just get rocked by Argentina in the quarterfinal. Because we see that game all the time. Yeah, see that one before I saw Chile seven Mexico zero and in 2016, right? Group C, I mean, we obviously, we talked a ton about the United States on on our podcast with with Henry Bushnell. Go check that out if you want more US men's national team talk. Uruguay, absolutely fascinating with with Marcelo Bielsa. but
00:14:35
Speaker
It's Beelzeball meets the major tournament. The 4-0 friendly win over Mexico is is proof of what this team can do. The win over Argentina, Eno Argentina, World Cup qualifying. Do you buy it? I think is the big question with them. Look, Bolivia are bad. um They'll defend. It's not going to work. They also can't really score. They don't have any any good goal scores. It's going to be difficult. ah Panama are an interesting little side that if you maybe give them a different draw, there's a bit more hope here. If they can somehow get a point against either Uruguay or the U.S. and then smash Bolivia, there's a bit of hope here. um Panama, I think, a bit are really good at playing teams that are worse than them, and they're not so good at playing teams that are better than them. And unfortunately here, they're going to be the majority of their games are going to be against teams that are better than them. Yeah, I like this Panama team.
00:15:22
Speaker
Like you said, they are they actually play well against, they've done really well in CONCACAF. They're ranked higher than Canada in the FIFA rankings, which doesn't mean that much, but like just shows you like whatever your perceptions of them were the past few years, they're probably a little better than you think. It's a tough group. I think in Group B, or even Group A, they they could do a little more damage. Uruguay and the United States are just a little bit too good. You look at the roster, yes, this is they've done really well to you know recycle. It took them eight years from their kind of golden generation. Yeah, this is they good climate but we talked with this, ah we talked with John Arnold about this on our Cocktail qualifying podcast. Panama get a ton of credit for sticking with the Thomas Christiansen project because I think they're really seeing the benefits of that project right now. yeah Yes. And you know what John said as well is this project has seen a lot of players get to some academies in Europe.
00:16:13
Speaker
I still think the best player here is Adelberto Carraschia, who's at Houston Dynamo. And I mean, he is a really fun midfielder to watch in terms of like can pull the strings, really technical, will spray that ball, great passing range. He's the guy to watch here. And this is that type of player that like in a year or two could be making that big MLS splashy move, um which would be a ah huge um win for Panama as well. yeah um you know These are tough teams for Panama to exert their will against. like You know how they're going to play. They can't just go try to like go toe to toe with either team. They're going to have to defend, do a lot of defending, and be super opportunistic. Can they get a point playing that game against either Uruguay in the United States? Maybe. I mean, it's going to be interesting. I wouldn't bet on it. But um they're they're a little more than than I think people are maybe expecting. It's just going to be tough to see any of that actually come out without a lot of luck.
00:17:08
Speaker
Yeah, Uruguay, look, Uruguay are fascinating. they You can make the case that they can absolutely win this Copa America. Bielsa at a major tournament, playing that style can absolutely work. And and I think they are going to be super, super fun to watch. If you wanted a yeah ah year and a team for a non-Argentina Brazil team to win Copa America, which does happen, as you know, this is a very good candidate, perhaps. one of the best candidates we've had in, in, you know, prince chile did it back to back in 15 and 16, right? This is right. So that shows you how it can work. And this is a, a specially motivated squad with a manager. I think, you know, I think a good thing about Bill Sabal is it's very unique and can actually but over the course of a, of a long club season, maybe it's hard to play that style and, you know, not give up enough goals to win your trophies in a league, but
00:18:04
Speaker
Small sample size international football is big. Seven games here, and they've got a very athletic defense. They've got the warrior mentality, like like the vibes. um And they've got goal scoring quality. like Brazil's you know easy to be picked off like as Brazil goes. This is a really, really good window for Uruguay to like legitimately talk themselves into winning this thing. um you know We're not betting market guys, but I think value-wise, that's about as good as you're going to get for someone that's not Argentina or Brazil to legitimately have a chance to win this kind of tournament. And look, you put Uruguay in a final against Argentina. They've already shown that they can beat this Argentina side playing this style, so it's fascinating. Do you want me to to do one minute on Bolivia in my new theory as to why Bolivia is bad?
00:18:54
Speaker
Let's hear it. All right, starting the clock. Now, you don't need me to tell you that Bolivia are bad, but I think it's interesting as to my theory of why Bolivia are bad. Bolivia, obviously, they play their home matches in La Paz, which is at 13,000 feet above sea level. That is a really difficult spot for opposing teams to play, particularly opposing teams that are full of European players who haven't played at altitude in a very long time. The problem for Bolivia is that playing at altitude, particularly for their major club sides, Bolivar and the strongest. Yes, there's a Bolivian club called the strongest. There's also one called Always Ready. Bolivian football is great. You should watch more of it, or you should watch any of it, actually. ah The problem is that those clubs can play the win at altitude, hope for okay results away from altitude, and have success. They can be good enough in carnival club competition to do that. Bolivar and the strongest both
00:19:42
Speaker
One, there are groups in the Libertadores this year. There's the first time that's ever happened. And so that just leads to this vicious cycle of nobody in Bolivia ever plays any other style because the style that they have creates results that are passable, right? They're better than Venezuelan teams. They're better than Peruvian teams. They've been better than Chilean and Paraguayan teams lately. So because of that, Bolivia is in this vicious cycle of playing this altitude-based football that leads to OK results with their club sides, pretty poor results with national teams, and absolutely terrible results at major tournaments. That is why Bolivia are bad. All right, it took me 75 seconds. Sorry. Wow. 15 extra seconds. But I mean, yeah and I don't know how anyone's disagreeing with that theory. I think it's pretty born out. like what it Like, yeah, this is the story of Bolivia. um
00:20:28
Speaker
You're telling me that maybe for Bolivia to actually succeed as a national team, they should play their home game somewhere else, and not at altitude in the long run? but Yeah, but then they lose the only advantage that gets it. It's a vicious cycle, right? It's it's a vicious cycle. This tournament is not taking place at altitude. Therefore, Bolivia are probably going to be pretty bad here. um Look, Carlos Lampa is ah a decent up goalkeeper. He's a good shot stopper. Romero Vaca is like a a perfectly acceptable midfield player. ah Can they bunker their way into a result? Probably not, but maybe they're gonna try um They did it in 2015, right? they They they drew with ah a decent ish team They beat a fellow bottom dweller and then they got smashed by the best team in their group and it didn't matter They got to the quarterfinals and then got smoked there That's the like the dream scenario for Bolivia here like get a point against the US Don't lose by a ton against Uruguay beat Panama and your four points are enough. I wouldn't bank on it. Yeah
00:21:25
Speaker
All right, I'm at the last group. Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay. This group feels very stratified. Brazil and Colombia are far and away the two best teams here. There's a lot that we can say about Brazil and Colombia. Costa Rica are not very good. Kilo Navas isn't here. I don't know who's supposed to score their goals. Like I guess it's Joel Campbell in Manfredo all day. um I don't think they're going to be able to do it at the level of Colombia and Brazil. Speaking of, I don't know who's going to score the goals. Paraguay, Costa Rica, Paraguay, dead rubber on match day three. um Not even the World Cup after dark podcast wants to watch that a bit. And that is a very likely possibility here. I don't know. Maybe me got all my own cooks. they're They're big enough at the back that like they can set piece their way and into something, but it's really hard to see past Columbia and Brazil here.
00:22:12
Speaker
Yeah, don't talk yourself into Paraguay. um Having seen what we've seen from the World Cup qualifying, they're just not very good. They can't score. They have no one to even get shots. Their only quality attacker is Miguel Almerón. He has no help. He is very good. like He can you know shoot from distance. But like we've just seen it enough where when they need goals, they don't have answers to get goals, ah which is a problem. And Costa Rica are I think the yeah team here, unfortunately for them. Yeah, which is, you know, there had to be 16 teams and six from CONCACAF. And so congrats. You've pulled the sixth best team in CONCACAF out of a hat. And it's like, not out of a hat, but you've, you found it. And like, okay. Yeah. Like Panama and Jamaica were fourth and fifth and like, good. You got them. They're decent. And you wanted the six best teams from CONCACAF. Welcome to Costa Rica. Like I'm not trying to be mean. They're just not that good. Um, and
00:23:08
Speaker
They're six best because they beat other teams at CONCAF. There's a level here. And as you said, Brazil and Colombia are very good. Brazil have a lot of pressure on them in this tournament. I think that's one of them. I think if you want your A1 narrative into this tournament outside of or ah soccer wise, like I think your best narratives are US hosting 26. Second is Messi, Argentina. The dance still happens. third narrative wise, first soccer wise is Brazil is in complete chaos and turmoil. It has all been bad. Things have been tough in Brazil for a while because they're the most storied football nation ever. And they have a lot of expectations to produce champions and development in Brazil is not better than everyone else anymore. It's still good. It's still top five in the world and they still producing
00:24:00
Speaker
incredible, incredible attackers. But the days where Brazil just walked into a tournament with the most fun and best attacking team are over. yeah um They still have those players. but Their defense is not great. Their midfield is not great. Here's my thing with Brazil. For so long under Cheech, they could kind of paper over a lot of that because they were remarkably resolute defensively. Basically, from the time they had a really bad Copa America, the last time the Copa America was in the US in 2016 under Dunga, until Cheech stepped down, Brazil were very, very solid defensively. They were significantly better than everybody else in the Confederation. They just didn't get it done at any of the major tournaments.
00:24:41
Speaker
Now they are not that strong defensively and they're also not world's better attacking wise. And so what you have is a good, but not great national team. And that's a problem for Brazil because Brazil can't be a good, not great national team. They're Brazil. They have to be a great national team. Brazil can't be Columbia and they're kind of Columbia right now. Yeah, I think it's a really, really interesting and ah high level take that has been building up for years. And I'm Stan with you. There is less of a gap between Brazil and Colombia, I think, than you'd expect, and really that there's been a long time. Listen, Brazil's center backs are still good. Gabriel, Milichao, Marquinhos, outside backs are not good. Center defensive mids are just solid role players. There's no, like, Cheech's Casamira was the best player that Brazil had, and he was fantastic. And that player is just not there. Yeah, there's not that player.
00:25:37
Speaker
And there's good attacking talent, right? You look at like- Of course, of course. but The attacking players are not bad. ah They're good. They can score goals. they they can They can create dangerous situations, but they don't do it with the regularity necessary to just walk over teams like we've seen in Brazil in the past and admit they've been dealt a tough hand here at this Copa America. They're on the bad side of the bracket. Brazil crashing out in the quarterfinals is not a complete Like, it would be a shocking result, of course, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that Uruguay fall, or Brazil fall the second in this group, they have to play Uruguay in the quarterfinals and Bialsa just smashes them. That could absolutely happen here.
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah, i on a few points is Brazil's attack, you know the good guys. Vinnie, Rodrigo, great. Rafinha, great. They're missing Richarlison, who was a good nine for them. ye um In terms of like who plays the nine, they didn't roll one out in some of their friendlies. They could try Hendrik, who's- That's not a big spot for a 17-year-old to walk into. Yeah, you can score goals, but like, ooh. Yeah, so like last there's questions on how they score when it's a bunch of wingers and dribble dribbly against backed up teams. You look at Columbia and Orgwhite, they have more answers. like
00:26:49
Speaker
they They do. And what makes this Columbia team good is, yeah, it's still all those really great midfielders you know. Like, Jamez Rodriguez is still putting around, not moving much, but playing great balls. um You know, Matias Uribe. But yeah what helps Columbia now is they're getting striker contributions at different times from Rafael Santos Boray. He's fine. I don't love him, but he's, he plays a striker position. He runs it behind. And John Duran at Aston Villa has really come on. I don't know if he's going to start, but like, I, who are you, who would you trust more him or Hendrick at the nine right now? Right now. I think you take three. Yeah. Obviously Hendrick is going to Madrid like in two years. That might not be a question, but in this format, in the proven record, let's see. And for Uruguay, you know, Darwin Nunez.
00:27:42
Speaker
Listen, I know he he like has a highlight reel of misses at Liverpool. He's also got a passionate reel of makes in an Uruguay shirt. Yeah, is he the best striker in this tournament? Uh, no, I think, I think who on Alvarez is probably okay like, yeah is he the second best striker in this tournament? Like taking Argentina out of the question. I think the answer is probably yes. You want some crazy Brazil numbers. Yeah. Let's hear it. All right. So you look at this Brazil national team, you put up the 26 players they've called into this tournament. One player has scored double digit goals in a Brazil shirt. That's Lucas. paeta You know how many he scored? 10. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Other than that,
00:28:21
Speaker
Vinicius Jr. scored three, Endrica scored three, Rodrigo scored six, Raffina scored six, Gabriel Martelly scored two. There's a couple of guys who have scored one, and Martinez has seven. this is a team that struggles like there's no Brazilian attack goal score. It's going in the back of the net type player and I think that's a big concern for them. I think Brazil are going to struggle at this tournament. I think they're going to have to play grindy ugly soccer. Go ahead. I don't think they're capable of doing that. I don't think Torrey Vols Jr can get that out of his team. I feel much more confident in Colombia and Uruguay having a better tournament here at the Copa America. I think
00:28:56
Speaker
Colombian Uruguay are making the semifinals from this half of the bracket. I think Brazil are going out. I think the U.S. are are making the bell curve. So I'm really intrigued to see it. I think as it's fun. Yeah. As this tournament kind of slowly builds up, I think we're going to get ah a lot of really interesting storylines and a lot of great. groups Yeah. I mean, I think that's the best way to like, you know, transition to the closing part. Yeah. Yeah. Argentina is making the next round, they're making the the semifinals. um They're probably making the final. They're probably making the final. We'll see who comes out of group B. That's very fun on its own, right? But on this side, the real drama is like, let's see in three matches, like, is Brazil gonna get passed to the semifinals?
00:29:39
Speaker
Maybe not, and can the United States also change that conversation? all right Those are the two teams. Yeah, two questions for you that I think can answer just about everything that's interesting about the Cup of America. One, who is your pick to make the semifinals on the top half of the bracket? That's the Argentina side. That, I think, is is an interesting answer. And two, who's winning this competition? Yeah, I i like my Uruguay like overall pick as like ah as like a fun like Uh, Zag, not even a Zag, but just, you know, they're not the top two. Um, but I think Argentina is going to play Ecuador in a semi-final as much as I want to pick Venezuela. I'm going to pick Ecuador. They're good. And I, uh, I think on the other side, it'll be Uruguay. And I think Argentina, Uruguay final. Um, hey I love to pick Uruguay, but like, listen, this is what's come after dark. I'm picking Argentina until I've proven wrong. One for one, uh, picking them at a major tournament of this podcast so far.
00:30:38
Speaker
Fair enough, fair enough. I agree with you. I think Ecuador make the semi-final. I think Argentina dispatch them. No, actually I lied to you. I'm sorry. I'm taking Chile to take, I'm taking Chile to make the semi-final. I think Chile finished second in the Argentina group. I think they beat oh and they eat Ecuador. oh And then we get an Argentina Chile semi-final, throw it back to 2015, 2016. I think that game would be at MetLife Stadium too. So we can really throw it back to 2016. And then I'm taking Uruguay to win this tournament. I'm all in on Bielsa. Chips are all at the table. I like it. Argentina are the favorites. They deserve to be the favorites. I think they can absolutely win this competition. We both picked the same final for a reason. I think Uruguay beat Colombia in the other semifinal. I think Brazil are out in the quarterfinals and asking even more questions. And I'm taking people to Uruguay to lift the Gulf of America with the the the but possibility that I might change all that after I see what I see in the group stage.
00:31:29
Speaker
All right, that's it from us here on the World Cup After Dark. If you like what we do, you can subscribe, rate, review, all that fun, good stuff. And if you'd like to support us monetarily, you can do so at patreon dot.com slash WCAD, $3 a month, access to exclusive shows like a lot of our Euro and Copa America podcasts are going to be. Serbia just scored a last minute equalizer as I'm wrapping up the podcast. Absolute scenes, absolute scenes, good stuff. um But yes, you can you can do that on patreon.com slash WCAD. We'll recap that on our next Euro Recap. We'll have tons of Copa America content as well. So be sure to stay tuned and thanks for listening as always.