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Venezuela faces star-studded Argentina in the second quarterfinals match of the 2019 Copa America on June 28, 2019, at the Estadio do Maracana ( Journalista Mario Filho ) in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Venezuela
Venezuela finished 2nd behind Brazil in Group A competition with 5 points and a +2 goal difference. On the other hand, Argentina also finished second in Group B after picking up a total of four points on a +0 goal difference. The winner of this quarterfinals duel will move on to the semifinals to face the winner of the Brazil vs Paraguay quarterfinals showdown.
Venezuela meanwhile has played a very good tournament and may have already exceeded the expectations of many observers. Remember that they were only picked to finish their group third behind Brazil and Peru. But they managed to force a 0-0 draw against both teams and then capped off their group stage round with a 3-1 win over Bolivia.
La Vinotinto completely outplayed Bolivia during their encounter. They grabbed the upper hand in the opening minutes and comfortably coasted to victory against the Bolivians. Darwin Machis was the star of the show with two goals for Venezuela. Meanwhile, Josef Martinez scored in the 86th minute to secure the final score.
Rafael Dudamel’s final 23-man squad is as follows:
- Goalkeepers: Wuilker Farinez, Rafael Romo, Joel Graterol
- Defenders: Roberto Rosales, Mikel Villanueva, Rolf Feltscher, John Chancellor, Yordan Osorio, Ronald Hernandez, Luis Mago
- Midfielders: Tomas Rincon, Luis Manuel Seijas, Arquimedes Figuera, Jhon Murillo, Darwin Machis, Junior Moreno, Adalberto Penaranda, Yangel Herrera, Luis Gonzalez, Jefferson Savarino
- Forwards: Salomon Rondon, Josef Martinez, Fernando Aristeguieta
Argentina
Argentina had a disappointing start to their 2019 Copa America campaign. First, La Albiceleste were held scoreless in a 0-2 defeat to Colombia. Then they needed a Lionel Messi goal off a penalty to force a 1-1 draw with Paraguay in their second match. With their tournament lives on the line, Argentina played its best game of the tournament against guests Qatar and emerged with a 2-0 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
Against Qatar, Argentina moved the ball well and had 54% of ball possession. They had 19 shots on goal and completed 500 passes. Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez scored in the 4th minute to put Argentina up early on. Sergio Aguero then sealed the win with a goal in the 82nd minute of action. But while the win was enough to put them through to the next round, it wasn’t impressive at all as the Argentinians’ movement and creativity looked flat. Despite that, they are favored to win this match given their superstars.
Lionel Scaloni’s 23-man squad is as follows:
- Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
- Defenders: Nicolas Otamendi, Ramiro Funes Mori, Marcos Acuna, Nicolas Tagliafico, German Pezzella, Renzo Saravia, Juan Foyth
- Midfielders: Angel Di Maria, Roberto Pereyra, Giovani Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Guido Rodriguez, Ivan Marcone
- Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Matias Suarez
Who Wins?
These two countries have faced each other a total of 25 times in football competition. Argentina won the first 19 head to head matches between these two teams but Venezuela has managed a record of two wins, two draws and two losses in their last six meetings, including a 3-1 win during an international friendly last March 22, 2019, which currently stands as their last meeting.
Venezuela will head to this quarterfinals matchup with plenty of confidence after forcing a scoreless draw against Brazil and Peru who both had the better betting odds to make it out of Group A. La Vinotinto also gave up just one goal in the group stage and only Brazil and Colombia, two of the top three soccer betting favorites to win this tournament, have played better defense by not conceding a single goal in the group stage.
Argentina meanwhile, scored just three goals in the group stage and two of these were during their last match against Qatar. Despite that, we know that the La Albiceleste have the one player named Lionel Messi and they also have other superstar scorers in the team like Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria. With these high profile players around, Argentina is always a threat to score goals.
Argentina has made the finals of the last two Copa America tournaments so there is no questioning this team’s experience and ability to win big games in big tournaments like this one. Meanwhile, we can say that Venezuela already outdid themselves by making it to the quarterfinals. But that’s not saying that they will be content with being one of the final eight teams standing in the 2019 Copa America.
Venezuela has played excellent defense all-tournament long. That defense will be put to the test against one of the most talented offensive teams, at least on paper. Sure, we have not seen Argentina play their best form so far in the tournament. But remember that they have superstars who can carry the team to victory. I think that superstar power, their scoring potential and the team’s experience in playing big games are going to be the difference here. I think Argentina wins this one although beating Brazil in the semis would be a different story though. But as far as this game is concerned, you have to like Argentina’s chances here. I’m picking Argentina to beat Venezuela and advance to the semifinals of the 2019 Copa America Cup. Prediction: Argentina
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