The other closing game in Group C of the Copa America tournament comes from Orlando on Monday night as Panama look to make it out of the group and into the knockout stages of the competition. Bolivia are their opponents on a big night for the CONCACAF side.
Panama need to better the USA result in order to make it through to the quarter final or if they both win Panama need to win by three more than USA do. Bolivia are going home after this match but have the chance to be party poopers.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Premier Sports 2 channel in the UK with the coverage getting underway at 1.50am ahead of the 2am kick off in Florida.
Bolivia
This has been another tournament to forget for Bolivia. They have played two matches, never looked like scoring and shipped seven at the other end and whatever they have come here to achieve they are certainly not going to do so. All they can hope for now is that with no competitive pressure on them they can free up and find something to take away and into the remainder of the World Cup qualifying campaign later in the year but you find it hard to believe that will happen.
The one thing which is surely a must for Bolivia in this match is that they have a go. They have had just eight shots in the competition so far which hasn’t been good enough. This is the weakest of the opponents on paper and with no pressure on them they need to show some sort of attacking intent. They could do with looking a lot better defensively as well if they are going to do anything positive in the remainder of the World Cup qualifying.
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Panama
This has been a more than acceptable campaign for Panama so far. To be fair, they could be forgiven for having their sights set on World Cup qualifying when it comes along because they will be one of the favourites to come through in this part of the world and competing in a tournament of that nature in their own continent would be a big thing. There is definitely progression from the Panamanians. They made the Gold Cup final last year and now will most likely qualify for the Copa America knockout stages with a win here.
Panama are going to need to do this slightly the hard way because their most creative player is going to be missing for this one as Adalberto Carrasquilla was sent off late on in the win over USA which kept their campaign alive. The fact that Panama had to win that match to stay alive and were able to do so bodes well for them even if USA were down to 10 men from fairly early on. There is no doubt that Panama can handle this game defensively, the question is whether they can score enough without the Houston Dynamo man.
Betting
I do think Panama will get the job done here but it could easily be a nervy night and one where they need to be patient. Of course the hope for them will be to do what USA did against Bolivia and score early and be able to both control this game from there and get the news through to the other game that USA have to win and put the pressure on them. I’m not completely convinced that is how it will play out but if and when Panama do go ahead I don’t think they will go massively in search of more goals.
I don’t see Bolivia offering anything in this match. Even if they play a bit more on the front foot there has been no sign of them delivering the goods at the top end of the pitch. I won’t take Panama to win to nil just in case they need a third goal or something and get done chasing it but you can get an acceptable price on Panama to win and under 4.5 goals. I don’t see this being a rout without Carrasquilla and there are two scores that have a Panama win and some sort of consolation for Bolivia and that will do for me.
Tips
Back Panama to win and under 4.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betway
