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Brazil Kick Off Copa America on Friday Night

The premier South American football tournament, Copa America, kicks off on Friday night in Brazil. The hosts will take to the field first and play a game they should win with ease against Bolivia. The home nation appear to have a great chance of winning the tournament this time around and that is without their star man Neymar, who will miss out through injury.

For all of their talent, the question with Brazil is can they handle the pressure? They have their home crowd to back them, but also to get on their backs if they are not playing well. The World Cup of 2014 was played in Brazil and dubbed as their time to deliver. Unfortunately the pressure got to them on that occasion, will it do so again here?

Argentina look best placed to beat the favourites, if anyone can, and with Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi leading their attack they look like a team that can score goals. However, you only have to look back to the World Cup last year to see that this squad doesn’t always get on, and they looked extremely poor defensively in that tournament. Can they turn it around and win what is likely to be Messi’s last Copa America?

Uruguay, Colombia and Chile will be the three teams who feel they can get involved and amongst the two fancied runners, while the remainder are all outsiders and expected to come up short in terms of quality here. One nation we will see this season are rank outsiders Qatar. They will compete in this competition for the first time and this will be key preparation for them as they move towards hosting the World Cup in 2022. This tournament isn’t about winning, it is about advancing and coming together as a team, and all they will want to do is avoid big defeats and embarrassment.

Copa America Betting Tips

The weight of a nation is on Brazil here, but I fancy them to handle it and bring home the trophy. Argentina are capable on their day, and have two fantastic forwards to lead their line however they did not impress at the World Cup last year, and struggle defensively.

That is enough for me to pass them over, so I’ll be sticking with the hosts Brazil, who look to have the best squad in the competition and all they need to do now is put it together on the field without the nerves affecting them.