Brazil v Venezuela 2011 Copa America Football betting odds, tips & preview – 03.07.11

July 3rd, 2011 – Brazil v Venezuela 2011 Copa America football betting starts the campaign for the defending champions. Brazil won the 2007 edition of the Copa America, beating their rivals Argentina in the final by a score line of 3-0. Brazil whimpered out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and so they have a lot to prove to their fans. This is an important tournament for Brazil, because they are hosting the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup ahead of the 2014 World Cup, so they will want to be building momentum and this is the perfect place to start for new coach Mano Menezes. Brazil needed a change after coach Dunga was blamed for taking a lot of Brazilian out of Brazil at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, so while the nation is in something of a transition period, the side is still packed with an awesome array of talent. With players like Neymar, Fred, Ramires, Adriano and David Luiz to name but a few, Brazil are not going to give up their title easily. They have won the Copa America eight times and victory down south in Argentina would be just the feel good boost that they need to prove that they are still the South American force to be reckoned with. How much of a team they will be remains to be seen, but they will no doubt take their time and grow into the tournament, and the thing about Brazil is that they have enough individual talent to be able to get by, especially in the early rounds. You stand them up against the other teams involved and you can only realistically see Argentina beating them over ninety minutes. They are probably not as strong as a collective team as Argentina at the moment, so it will be interesting to watch their progress.

Mano Menezes has not had a flawless start to his managerial stint with the national side. He ran off four straight wins but then lost an exhibition match in Qatar 1-0 against Argentina. That will have spurred them on even more to get some revenge over their Latin American rivals. That defeat was followed up by another one as they lost away in France. They responded with a 2-0 win over Scotland before battling out a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands in a friendly. With Brazil hosting the next World Cup, they are not going to get as much competitive action as other teams. So the Copa America is crucial to their development as a new team. Menezes named 10 debutants in his firm 24 man squad, so he is not afraid of chance, nor of pulling together the best of the Brazilian youth. There is plenty of time to gel together ahead of the World Cup in 2014. Their opponent Venezuela may not be the pushovers which many may think they will be in the 2011 Copa America. In their last four matches, they have beaten Mexico twice and Guatemala once, and suffered a 3-0 defeat against Spain. So there is hope for them that they will be able to battle their way through to the knockout stage as they have to face Paraguay and Ecuador. For your Brazil v Venezuela 2011 Copa America betting though, Brazil should be backed firmly to get off the ground running. They won’t admit it, but they will be gunning hard for Argentina in the tournament. At the bookmakers, Brazil are generally trading as second favourites behind the hosts.

Brazil v Venezuela 2011 Copa America Betting Odds

Brazil to win: 1/6 at BetFred
Draw: 13/2 at Stan James
Venezuela to win: 22/1 at Stan James

Brazil to win Group B: 2/5 at SkyBet
Brazil are 2/1 second favourites at Bet365 to win the 2011 Copa America

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