Copa America: No Neymar But Brazil is Ready to Party!

Copa America: No Neymar But Brazil is Ready to Party!

Brazil vs Bolivia

The Copa America is underway this weekend with a spectacular opening promised when hosts Brazil take on Bolivia at Morumbi.

We’ll be following the whole tournament here at SBOBET and one thing’s for certain; the Selecao won’t be far away from the Copa America 2019 news. And we wouldn’t want it any other way!

Coach Tite has a team, dripping with talent and that special Samba rhythm, and Bolivia will have to be at their very best to stay with their hosts. The only piece of good news for the visitors is that Neymar is unavailable to play, but I really can’t see Bolivia spoiling the hosts’ party.

Talking Points

No Neymar? Shouldn’t be a problem for Brazil

The latest Copa America 2019 betting odds have Brazil as a strong favourite to lift the trophy on home soil but there will be serious competition for the Selecao. Sergio Aguero says the Argentina team will do everything in their power to win the tournament for Lionel Messi. And Chile is always a threat, as is the tough mentality of Uruguay.

An injury to Neymar in a recent friendly with Qatar has ended the Paris Saint Germain forward’s hopes of participating in the Copa America. He’s ruptured an ankle and that means he’ll be out of action until the new domestic season.

But hey, Tite has a wealth of riches at his disposal, starting with the best two goalkeepers in the Premier League. Ederson’s displays for Manchester City, cool and professional always, helped the Sky Blues retain the Premier League title. Meanwhile, Alisson had an equally impressive season at Liverpool.

Brazil’s Liverpool contingent has proved it can beat the best in the world, Alisson and striker Roberto Firmino lifted the Champions League trophy this season, and that after a stunning semi-final comeback against Barcelona, Messi and all.

Premier League fans will also be familiar with the creative skill of Chelsea’s Willian, the goal scoring finesse of City’s Gabriel Jesus and the vast improvement of Richarlison in his first season at Everton.

Add in the undoubted talent of Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho and Brazil has a superb dead ball specialist.

This is the team to beat.

Bolivia’s inexperienced squad

With Venezuela and Peru also in Pool A, this is clearly Bolivia’s toughest assignment and it might just be a case of damage limitation. Alberto Illanes’ side is down in 63^rd place in the World FIFA rankings, a full 60 places below their illustrious opponents.

A 2-0 defeat to France in the run-up to this game didn’t provide too much encouragement; though they kept the score down, the result meant Bolivia is still to win a competitive match in 2019. And in all honesty, they were second best throughout a game in which Les Bleus rarely got out of first gear.

All but three of Bolivia’s squad play their football in the Bolivia domestic league and that is not good news for Illanes, against a side packed with players plying their trade in the best leagues in the world.

Marcelo Martins is the most capped player in the current squad. The 31-year-old

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright striker has scored 17 goals in 73 internationals and he’s the visitors’ best chance of a goal.

History

The head to heads are not as one-sided as you might expect, in the eight meetings since 1930 Brazil has won half, and there have been three draws and a single win for Bolivia.

The underdogs managed a goalless draw the last time they played Brazil, in a World Cup qualifier back in 2017, but the previous year, in Brazil, they took a 5-0 hammering.

Bolivia has only qualified for one World Cup, in 1994, while Brazil has won it five times, so this is a real ‘David versus Goliath’ clash. But Bolivia’s winless run has stretched to seven games and it will be an almighty shock if that doesn’t stretch to eight on Friday night.

Betting Tip

Brazil Asian Handicap -2.50 @ 2.04

Brazil is at 1.087 to win this game with the draw at 8.50 and Bolivia big outsiders at odds of 23.00. And that’s no surprise when you look at the comparative squads. With only one household name in their ranks Bolivia will be overshadowed by a team pulling its players from trophy winners throughout Europe.

The Selecao is the deserving favourite to win this year’s Copa America on home soil and I expect them to start with a bang in Morumbi.

Let the party begin!

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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