The second quarter final of the Copa America is an all-South American affair at the MetLife Stadium in New York as Colombia take on Peru for the right to face either Chile or Mexico in the semi-final.
Colombia qualified for this last eight clash as runners-up to USA in Group A while Peru came past Brazil and Ecuador to be surprise winners of Group B.
The Peruvians did remarkable well to get out of the group stages after they only beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening match but to win the group was a sensational effort. We all know they were fortunate to see off Brazil but even then they never looked like losing to them so just because their goal should have been chalked off it wasn’t as if they were playing badly.
Peru seem to know how to manage their way through this competition. They aren’t what you would call one of the powerhouses of South America but they have come out of their group in every Copa since 1995 and finished third in the last two tournaments so they know how to negotiate their way past the quarter final as well.
The World Cup quarter finalists were largely on easy street for their opening match and a half in this tournament but then things seemed to change. Paraguay exposed them in the second half of their match but to their credit Colombia held on to win. A much changed side then lost to Costa Rica in their final game to deny them top spot.
Going forward Colombia always look very solid. They have pace, trickery and most importantly of all they have options and that makes them a dangerous proposition should they hold their nerve defensively now we are in the knockout stages.
Team News
Peru could give a start to the man who scored that controversial goal against Brazil in Raul Ruidiaz. They will be without the suspended Yoshimar Yotun after he picked up a second yellow card in the tournament when booked after coming on in injury time against Brazil.
We can expect Colombia to recall all the heavy guns for this match so the likes of David Ospina, James Rodriguez, Christian Zapata, Carlos Bacca and Juan Caudrado should all come back into the team having been rested for the Costa Rica game.
Head to Head
The record between these two down the years is quite level. In the 61 previous meetings Colombia have won 22 and Peru 18 with 21 draws so that suggests this could go either way. That said Peru have only won one of the last 13 games although their record against Brazil was even worse than that and they overcame that obstacle.
Betting
Although Colombia have dominated the recent meetings between the two sides Peru are largely competitive against them and they seem to know what they are doing when it comes to this tournament.
I fancy this will be tighter than the odds suggest. Of the two you would probably suggest that Colombia have looked the more vulnerable defensively in this tournament but at the same time they have probably looked more fluent going forward.
I’m not sure I fancy many goals in this match. I fancy a tight quarter final and I wouldn’t be surprised if it needs penalties at the end of it. Peru have enjoyed being the underdogs in this tournament though and I’ll take them with a large looking Asian line in their favour.
Tips
WON – Back Peru (+1AH) to beat Colombia for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with Winner Sports
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