Canada vs Uruguay prediction: SOUTH AMERICA: Copa América – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-07-13 00:00.
[p]It all comes down to this in the 2024 Copa América for the losing semi-finalists, Canada and Uruguay, who must now face one final test to achieve a podium finish. Canada’s journey to this stage does at least mean a North American side reaches the last hurdle of this USA-hosted tournament, with manager Jesse Marsch having nothing to be ashamed of after his brave side eventually fell to reigning Copa América and world Champions, Argentina. [/p]
[p]Marsch summed this tournament up as having gone “way better than any of us could have scripted,” and that’s backed up historically too given that they’d never before reached the final four of a major tournament outside of CONCACAF. The Maple Leafs are already the best performer of their home federation ahead of hosts USA and Mexico, and having only lost twice to Argentina in this tournament, they’ll hold hopes of picking up the bronze-placed finish on this occasion.[/p]
[p]Facing off against them for the minor honours are the nation who have picked up more bronze medals in this sphere than any other with nine, Uruguay. After painfully losing 1-0 to a ten-man Colombia in the semi-final during the week, they prepare to enter their first third-place play-off since 2007, which is rather poignant as they lost 3-1 to another CONCACAF nation in the form of Mexico that time around. [/p]
[p]Uruguay’s journey to this stage has been built on solid defensive foundations as up until their semi-final defeat, they had conceded only once whilst scoring nine times across four outings in the tournament. The highlight of their campaign was knocking Brazil out in the quarter-finals, a result they will hope to take confidence from as they look to build on what is a perfect record after two prior H2Hs (W2). [/p]
[p]Key battle: Whilst he put in a sub-par 5.8 Flashscore rated performance in Canada’s semi-final defeat, Jonathan David remains the only man to score a winning goal for his nation within 90 minutes at this tournament. Trying to stop him will be Sergio Rochet, the Uruguayan keeper who had made 6/6 required saves whilst keeping three straight clean sheets in the lead up to their semi-final defeat. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Seven of the last nine third-place play-offs saw both teams score and over 2.5 goals in 90 minutes. [/p]
[p][i]Written by: Matthew Billon[/i][/p]