Servus Syndicate Members,
All the favorites remain alive in the Southern hemisphere’s showpiece. Bookie remains grateful for all the fantastic football, but somehow feels slightly gutted by the elimination of the Asian teams.
Both the Qatar stars and the Japanese rookies came to play. In the end some spectacularly gallant football simply wasn’t enough.
Oh well. At least CONMEBOL has something to think about heading into future tournaments. While we’re left with a square quarterfinal round with no major upsets projected, there should still be plenty of fantastic football on display.
In honor of the fallen we’ll invite Qatari coach Felix Sanchez Bas to serve as guest.
The Cross Catalan was uncharacteristically reserved at this tournament. Bookie was secretly hoping to watch him feast upon the entrails of some wayward rodents.
Thursday, June 27th
Brazil vs. Paraguay
vs. 
Meet the new Selecao. Tite’s got it all figured out after some trial-and-error work in the group phase. David Neres and Richarlison get dropped in favor of Everton and Gabriel Jesus. Arthur and Casemiro drop back. Phillipe Coutinho slots in directly behind Robert Firminho on the central vertical axis. Bookie loves it. Been waiting to see this since last Summer. The Barça man makes for an excellent feeder.
Casemiro’s suspension shouldn’t affect matters in this encounter. His tally was little more than a poacher’s goal and Willian is surely surging in confidence after that vicious late strike. Bookie projects a flexible 4-3-2-1 that easily transitions into a 4-4-1-1- or 4-4-2 as needed.
Gabriel Jesus is the most flexible player in this alignment. He roves like he does when Pep unchains him in the Champion’s League. Dani Alves also comes forward on a regular basis to keep the lateral lanes open. There’s space left to exploit, but don’t expect their opponent in this round to do much with it.
Why is Paraguay even here? Because Richard Sanchez’s goal exposed just how bad the Argentine marking is and the Samurai couldn’t overcome that goal differential deficit the Chileans dumped on them. The disorganized Albi roja won’t last long. We might even see another 4-5 goal eruption.
Projected Lineups:
“A Selecao” (4-2-3-1)
Roberto Firminho
|
Everton Phillipe Coutinho Gabriel Jesus
|
Arthur Willian
|
Filipe Luis Dani Alves
|
Marquinhos Thiago Silva
|
Alisson
|
“La Albiroja” (4-4-2)
Oscar Cardozo Matias Rojas
|
Rodrigo Rojas Richard Sanchez
|
Miguel Almiron Juan R. Rojas
|
S. Arzamendia Bruno Valdez
|
Junior Alonso Fabian Balbuena
|
Gatito Fernandez
|
Prop Bets (as always, feel free to offer your own)
Over/Under—4 goals
Penalty Shootout—4 to 1
Richarlison start—2 to 1
Everton goal—Straight Up
Arzamendia straight red—3 to 1
Federico Santander start—2 to 1
THE LINE: Brazil +3 Goals
Friday, June 28th
Argentina vs. Venezuela
vs. 
Somehow La Albiceleste have managed to pull themselves out of the implosion zone at the last possible moment yet again. The trick seems to be to resolutely give up on them after spending half of the tournament talking up their strengths. Talk yourself into the team. Talk yourself out. Talk yourself back in again.
Scaloni went for broke with an attack-minded 4-3-3. Messi was slanted in his natural right role. At times it looked like Lautaro Martinez flanked him directly opposite. At times it was definitely Kun Aguero. Lo Celso handled most of the midfield distribution, or at least he did until that booking and subsequent substitution. Paredes took over once Acuna came on. Dybala chipped in too with a fine assist at the end.
This might actually work. Messi can retire a champion after all. There’s a decent enough threat on the left between Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul to free Messi up a bit. Acuna can even get his starting place back (never thought I’d say that)
For La Vinotinto, A nice diamond shape took some pressure off of Thomas Rincon’s shoulders in the final group stage match against Bolivia. Though he remained center, he was able to spend more time cycling. Effective triangulation from the Latin Maroons. Moreno anchors, Keeping an eye on that left back situation
Looks like they’re pretty over-matched here regardless. An upset isn’t impossible, but the tormented Albiceleste probably lucked out with an easy ticket to the Semis. They might even capture the…..nah….no we can’t do this again.
Projected Lineups:
“La Albiceleste” (4-3-3)
Sergio Aguero
|
Lautaro Martinez Lionel Messi
|
Rodrigo De Paul Leandro Paredes Marcos Acuna
|
Nicolas Tagliafico Renzo Saravia
|
Nicolas Otamendi German Pezzella
|
Franco Armani
|
“La Vinotinto” (4-1-4-1)
Salomon Rondon
|
D. Machis T. Rincon J. Murillo J. Savarino
|
Junior Moreno
|
Luis Mago Ronald Hernandez
|
Jhon Chancellor Roberto Rosales
|
Wuilker Farinez
|
Prop Bets (as always, feel free to offer your own)
Over/Under—3 Goals
Penalty Shootout—3 to 1
Aguero brace—Straight Up
Dybala start—2 to 1
Rondon goal—Straight Up
Chancellor howler—Straight Up
THE LINE: Argentina +1 Goal
Columbia vs. Chile
vs. 
The only real heavyweight battle of this phase. Could be a competitive fixture with plenty of goals and lead changes, but the bookie actually doesn’t see it being that close. Queiroz’s regulars are well rested after that dud of a fixture against Paraguay and are working pretty well in the constellation to the bookie’s naked eye. One can probably ascribe to them the status of favorites. Looks like those fears about the left back situation were completely overblown.
Either Falcao or Zapata can take the lead. It doesn’t really matter. James can start on the right or left. Who cares? He’s done well on the right, so we’ll put him there. Any way one builds, it’s just too good a team that’s been expertly rotated. Bookie’s built a beast below.
La Roja Americana are on their last legs. Medel and Jara looked woeful in that final group stage draw. When your centerbacks are tanking you can forget about it. Maripan has the height to play the position. What he lacks is the pedigree. Surely we’ll see Vidal back in the lineup, but I don’t think it will matter.
The way to two sides match cries for stalemate, but there’s too many ways of getting behind this Chilean defense. Their fullbacks play like shit as well. Forget it. We’ll crown a new continental champion. It’s about damn well time the Coffee growers capture the Copa America. They’ve never actually won it in 21 tries.
Projected Lineups:
“Los Cafeteros” (4-2-3-1)
Radamel Falcao
|
Roger Martinez D. Zapata James Rodriguez
|
Wilmar Barrios Juan Cuadrado
|
William Tesillo Stefan Medina
|
Yerry Mina Davidson Sanchez
|
David Ospinna
|
“La Roja Americana” (4-1-3-2)
Alexis Sanchez Eduardo Vargas
|
Charles Aranguiz Paulo Diaz Pablo Hernandez
|
Arturo Vidal
|
Jean Beausejour Mauricio Isla
|
Gonzalo Jara Gary Medel
|
Gabriel Arias
|
Prop Bets (as always, feel free to offer your own)
Over/Under—3 Goals
Penalty Shootout—3 to 1
Zapata solo start—Straight Up
James crusher from outside 18—Straight Up
Sanchez brace—3 to 1
Vidal straight red—Straight Up
THE LINE: Columbia +2 Goals
Saturday, June 29th
Uruguay vs. Peru
vs. 
What has happened to the bookie’s selected favorites? Maybe they’re simple too old and predictable after all. It stood to reason that this Golden Generation would take advantage of what shall surely be their last hurrah. Perhaps they still can. Suarez and Cavani aren’t really the issue. It’s more an issue of Lodeiro running himself ragged and the Godin/Caceras partnership clearly being past their prime.
Tabarez doesn’t seem to have much of a Plan B. That’s so often the case when discussing this team. It’s not that younger players such as Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Torreira, Maxi Gomez, Federico Valverde, and Marcelo Saracchi aren’t immensely talented. It’s frankly absurd how this tiny nation of roughly three million people consistently has such a large talent pool to draw from. Instead, there never seems to be a sense of cooperation among the generations within this squad. At least that’s been the case over the past decade or so.
The younger players never know where or how they fit. None of that matters here as they’ll quite easily find a way through. Some slight tinkering and we’ve got Los Incas solved. Betancur retains a midfield role, swapping often with Laxalt. Coates can handle a midfield deployment. He’s proven that on numerous occasions. Nandez in on the right for some fresh legs.
We have a harmonious balance of veterans and youth, ideally capable of dancing synchronized and syncopated. Love to see something like this in action. Even if we don’t, it still should be an easy win.
Projected Lineups:
“La Celeste” (4-4-2)
Edinson Cavani Luis Suarez
|
Nicolas Lodeiro Nahitan Nandez
|
Rodrigo Betancur Sebastian Coates
|
Diego Laxalt Martin Caceres
|
Diego Godin Jose Gimenez
|
Fernando Muslera
|
“Los Incas” (4-2-3-1)
Paolo Guerrero
|
Edison Flores Jefferson Farfan Christian Cueva
|
Yoshimar Yotun Renato Tapia
|
Miguel Trauco Luis Advincula
|
Carlos Zambrano Luis Abram
|
Pedro Gallese
|
Prop Bets (as always, feel free to offer your own)
Over/Under—3 Goals
Penalty Shootout—3 to 1
Cavani brace—Straight Up
Lodeiro from outside the 18—2 to 1
Santamaria start—Straight Up
Gallese howler—Straight Up
THE LINE: Uruguay +2 Goals
GENTLEMEN, ENTER YOUR WAGERS
