Argentina v Colombia Copa America Football betting preview & odds – 06.07.11

Football Betting

Argentina v Colombia 2011 Copa American football betting should demand more of Lionel Messi and co. Things did not quite go to plan for host nation Argentina on the opening night of the Copa America, as they found themselves having to huff and puff to come up with an equaliser against Bolivia. Argentina went into the tournament full of bravado, full of confidence that they could pick up the pieces after a disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup. Out went the bizarre selections and unfathomable tactics of Diego Maradona, and in came the steadying hand of Sergio Batista. The whole aim was for Argentina to get their foot on the ball a little bit more, play more patiently and with the stylish control displayed by Spain. Argentina fell behind in their opening match in the 46th minute, a goal which shocked pretty much the whole world who were watching. It silenced the crowd at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata at the very least. It took a reply from Sergio Aguero in the 76th minute to salvage a point for Argentina, who will now have to raise their game drastically. It was a stark contrast of game plans from Argentina and Bolivia, but it was one which cancelled each other out in the end. Bolivia as underdogs, were happy to sit back and soak up pressure from Argentina at the back, and they worked tremendously hard to hold their shape and not afford the Argentineans enough time and space. They succeeded very well in frustrating Argentina out of that possession game and they earned their rewards with just one striker up front. As for the host nation, there was yet another jumble as they clearly have too many options to chose from up top.

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The debates will rage on about Lionel Messi and how he does not perform for his country. How the Barcelona Messi never shows up to represent for his nation. That is a little bit unfair because still, even with a new manager in place, Argentina are really no different from the side which stumbled through the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The same problem is there. How to use Lionel Messi effectively? There is a problem there, and Bolivia proved it. Hard work from a Bolivia team unit, simply overcame the superstar laden individual collective of Argentina. Messi is still being used in the wrong role for his country, time and time again he had to come far too deep to look for the ball. He was one of a three man attack, along with Tevez and Levezzi but again they just did not gel. The problem is in the centre of the park, because Argentina do not have a natural play maker. Drop Spain’s Xavi in there and they will get better tenfold without changing anything else. Argentina don’t have Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system down and it’s not working. You need Messi up top where he can do the most damage, you need width to create space. You need better support and quick passing from the midfield, everything which Argentina did not have. Argentina have the players, but they do not have the team, and when they were almost playing with a back five at times, you could tell the players weren’t at home with what was going on. So now, Argentina need a positive result against Colombia.

As for Argentina’s next opponents, Colombia put in a lack lustre show against Costa Rica, and got away with it thanks to a single goal from Ramos in the 45th minute, separating the two sides. OK, so Costa Rica’s chances weren’t helped when they went down to ten men in the 28th minute. Colombia grabbed their goal and that was enough for them. There is not too much else you can say about them really, except that they will give Argentina a chance against them. Colombia were not good enough, were not smart enough to really overpower, outsmart or even outwork the ten men of Costa Rica. They will of course be delighted with their three points, and now all the pressure is on Costa Rica. Costa Rica are only in the tournament because Japan withdraw after the earthquake back in March, and so an invite was extended to them. The group is wide open, and Argentina v Colombia Copa America betting really does take a little bit of weighing up, but not that much. Argentina should win this. Yes, we said that about the Bolivia match, but things will have to have changed from that fairly limp opening salvo which they delivered. It was not good enough, so expect things to be tweaked. They will have the home support on their backs as well, so expect something better. Argentina definitely have the players in their squad, they are just not a team, not a team which has been together long enough playing a solid system anyway. It should be simple. Build a team around Lionel Messi, and don’t try and shoehorn the wealth of attacking talent all into the side at once.

Argentina v Colombia 2011 Copa American Betting Odds

Argentina to win: 2/5 at Stan James
Draw: 9/2 at William Hill
Colombia to win: 8/1 at SportingBet

Argentina v Colombia 2011 Copa America Betting Tip: Forget the first results, this is a clean sheet were are starting with. The group is still wide open, all to play for, and so there is no reason to hit the panic button yet. Would back Argentina to win this match, simply because Colombia were very poor, even though they won. The host nation will create chances, and you would expect at least one of them to fly in. Colombia really haven’t got that much up front to offer. We are going to push the envelope a little bit and go for an Argentina -1.5 Asian Handicap for 9/8 at Bet365.