Copa America Results 2016: SemifInals Schedule After QuarterfInals Scores
The semifinals of the 2016 Copa America will be set on Saturday after a pair of critical quarterfinal matchups.
Four strong sides will remain alive, but perhaps the U.S. is the biggest surprise of the group. Before the tournament began, names like Brazil and Uruguay were more likely bets to reach this stage, but the U.S. has played tremendous soccer to put itself within a win of playing for a major tournament championship.
Here is a look at Saturday's scores and the Copa America's remaining schedule:
.jpg?w=256)
| Argentina vs. Venezuela | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts | 4-1 Argentina |
| Chile vs. Mexico | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California | 7-0 Chile |
| Argentina vs. USA | NGR Stadium, Houston | 9 p.m. |
| Chile vs. Colombia | Soldier Field, Chicago | 8 p.m. |
| 3rd-Place Game | University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona | 8 p.m. |
| Final | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey | 8 p.m. |
Argentina Defeats Venezuela 4-1
Venezuela was a nice story as the lowest-ranked team, No. 77 in the world, to make the knockout stage, but the clock ran out on the side, as Argentina established itself as the most dominant team of the tournament.
Gonzalo Higuain scored two first-half goals, and Lionel Messi and Erik Lamela added a pair of insurance tallies to give Argentina the comfortable 4-1 win. Jose Salomon Rondon was Venezuela's lone scorer.
Argentina wasted little time in asserting itself. It opened with numerous threatening passes and through balls before Higuain converted in the eighth minute, courtesy of Fox Sports:
This was gorgeous connecting play, as Messi sent a dime into the box that Higuain perfectly finished into the far corner of the net.
The Argentines continued to attack, and Venezuela looked uncomfortable with the ball. Higuain took advantage, courtesy of Fox Sports:
The game was sealed at halftime, but Venezuela had an opportunity to make the game interesting just before the intermission. The team was awarded a penalty, but Luis Seijas badly missed the ensuing shot, via Fox Sports:
Messi would score his fourth goal in two appearances in the 60th minute, and Lamela scored a soft goal roughly 10 minutes later to punctuate a convincing victory.
Venezuela had an excellent run, as getting past Uruguay was a massive accomplishment for a nation that is an afterthought in South American soccer. The team just ran into an unstoppable force in the quarterfinals.
Argentina will face the U.S. on Tuesday, and it should be heavily favored. The Argentines have outscored their opponents 14-2 so far, and the Americans will be down three key players in Alejandro Bedoya, Jermaine Jones and Bobby Wood.
The U.S. will have a slight chance to win if it can play lights-out defense and generate a fortunate goal, but Argentina is playing sensational soccer, and it will likely be too much for the Americans to contain.
Chile Defeats Mexico 7-0
In front of a rowdy, pro-Mexican crowd, it was Chile that played inspired soccer as it routed El Tri 7-0.
Chile looked like the defending Copa America champions with a crisp, relenting attack that simply overwhelmed Mexico. Eduardo Vargas netted a staggering four goals, while Edson Puch added two and Alexis Sanchez also scored.
From the opening kickoff, Chile was faster and more technically-sound with the ball. The team easily stripped Mexico of the sparse possession it had, and it turned into quick counters towards the Mexican goal.
As a result, Puch was able to convert on this rebound to give Chile the early lead, courtesy of Fox Sports:
The onslaught proceeded with Sanchez drawing two defenders near him down low before finding Vargas for his first of the game to extend the lead to 2-0 before halftime. The Copa America's Twitter page provided the midway stats:
The final stats would remain in Chile's favor, as it held 60 percent possession and outshot Mexico 18-to-eight.
Only down by two, Mexico had the opportunity to bounce back and push to tie the game. However, the Mexicans inexplicably were unable to match the Chileans' intensity, and the contest became ugly.
Sanchez sealed the deal in the 49th minute by finishing this beautiful pass from Arturo Vidal, courtesy of Fox Sports:
This was the breaking point of the game, as Mexico looked shell-shocked for the remainder of the night. Vargas would score again three minutes later, before notching a hat-trick in the 57th minute, courtesy of Fox Sports:
Vargas would then score once more thanks to lazy defending from Mexico. Puch would do the same in the 88th minute.
For Mexico, Saturday's result is beyond disappointing. The team had high hopes to possibly win this tournament playing in front of many of its supporters after a Gold Cup win last summer. Instead, it was thoroughly embarrassed in the quarterfinals.
There is no excuse for coming out so flat in such a high-magnitude fixture, and manager Juan Carlos Osorio will face considerable heat for the foreseeable future.
Chile played great Saturday, and it has a favorable matchup in the semifinals.
Colombia lost to Costa Rica to end group play, and it needed penalties to get past Peru in a sloppy quarterfinal affair. Chile and Colombia are trending in the opposite directions, which could land the Chileans in the Copa America final for the second straight year.
Statistics are courtesy of CA2016.com. Rankings are courtesy of FIFA.com.
.jpg?w=480)
.jpg?w=480 "Raiders Chiefs Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Full Bryce Young Trade Return 🔁")
.jpg?w=600 "McVay Explains Viral Presser")
