Grab a seat and make yourself comfortable. The Copa America has just entered its business end and this is when things get tight. Brazil have already been shown the door and, in the next couple of days, four more other teams will join them on the flight home.
Who’s done well and who’s managed to get in by a stroke of luck? And will there be more upsets? Here’s a look at all the eight teams that have made it so far.
Argentina
The Albiceleste have been their dominating, marauding selves throughout the group stage. Lionel Messi missed their first match, but came on as a substitute in their next two games and showed what he is capable of, with a second-half hat-trick against Panama. They’ve scored 10 goals in three games so far and have only conceded once, against Chile in injury-time. Argentina coach Tata Martino has already confirmed that his captain will be back in the starting line-up for their quarter-final clash against Venezuela and, in this kind of form, few would bet against them going all the way and winning their first global title since 1993.
Colombia
They were the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals and looked very dangerous in their first two matches, a 2-0 win against the United States and then a 2-1 victory against Paraguay. But they stumbled against an already eliminated Costa Rica in their third game, losing 2-3.
That could have potentially led to a quarter-final clash with Brazil, but Peru gave them a lifeline, knocking the Selecao out of the tournament in controversial circumstances. Colombia will fancy themselves to see off Peru, but they’ll want to be a little more clinical in the process, to banish any nagging doubts after the shock loss to Costa Rica.
Mexico
El Tri might not have been as dominant as Argentina in the group stage, but their record speaks for itself – their 1-1 draw against Venezuela in their last group match (thanks to Jesus Corona’s wonder goal) took their unbeaten streak to 22 games. Mexico have a settled team, with Javier “Chicarito” Hernadez in good form up front, Andres Guardado and Hector Herrera coordinating the midfield and the veteran Rafael Marquez providing vital experience at the back. Mexico have shown that they can grind out results if required and that makes them second-favourites after Argentina for the title.
Chile
The defending champions haven’t really looked like defending champions. Chile started their campaign with a dispiriting 2-1 loss to Argentina, but came back to qualify for the last eight with wins over Bolivia and Panama. On the attacking front, they can rely on Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, but it’s at the back where they should be worried: Chile have conceded the most goals among all eight teams at this stage. They’ll need to be right on their toes if they want to entertain any chances of retaining the title they won last year.
United States
The hosts have had a strange tournament. They were written off after losing their first match 0-2 to Colombia. But in a strange turn of fate, they won their next two games and qualified as the group winners after Colombia lost their last game to Costa Rica. Now, as they prepare to meet Ecuador in the quarter-finals, they will be buoyed by how they fought back from a demoralising loss. Jurgen Klinsmann will be happy that his team has demonstrated that they can defend, but he will hope for some more attacking spark in the quarters.
Ecuador
Ecuador are one of only two other South American nations that have never won the Copa America, the other being Venezuela. It is a wrong they will attempt to right as they take on the United States in the quarter-final. They have played disciplined, counter-attacking football and it has served them well through the tournament – they drew against Brazil after having a goal disallowed and then fought back from a 2-0 deficit against Peru to draw 2-2. A quarter-final spot was clinched with a 4-0 dismantling of Haiti. Both their Valencias – Antonio and Enner – have been in form and they will be quietly confident of going further in this tournament.
Peru
Peru are no underdogs – they finished in third spot at the last Copa America, which demonstrates that they have the tenacity for the big occasions. They’ve been underwhelming so far – only managing to squeak out a 1-0 win against Haiti, who were thumped by much larger margins by other teams. Peru also gave away a 2-0 lead against Ecuador, but stole a win against Brazil in extremely controversial circumstances. Can that stroke of luck galvanise them against Colombia?
Venezuela
Make no mistake, Venezuela are up against it – they face Argentina in the quarter-finals. On the bright side, they will be emboldened by their undefeated record in the group stage. They held on grimly against Uruguay in their second match and would have almost defeated Mexico if it hadn’t been for a moment of magic from Mexico’s Jesus Corona. They’ve already proved that they can defend, but will they be able to hold off a hungry Lionel Messi?
Quarter-finals schedule (all times in Indian Standard Time)
United States v Ecuador, Friday 7.00 am
Peru v Colombia, Saturday 5.30 am
Argentina v Venezuela, Sunday 4.30 am
Mexico v Chile, Sunday 7.30 am
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