Copa America Schedule 2016: Live Stream, TV Info, Odds for Friday Group Fixtures
Tournament hosts the U.S. and Colombia will kick off the Copa America Centenario on Friday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Colombia are favourites in Group A, which also includes Costa Rica and Paraguay, but the Stars and Stripes are gunning for a positive showing on home soil and will want to grab a positive result in their first match in front of their own fans.
Per Odds Shark, bookmakers expect a close contest. Here's a look at the match odds:
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| Colombia Win | 7-4 |
| Draw | 43-20 |
| USA Win | 17-10 |
Here's everything you need to know about Friday's clash.
Date: Friday, June 3
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. BST (Saturday)
Venue: Levi's Stadium
TV Info: The match will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (for U.S. viewers) and Premier Sports (for UK viewers).
Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go, FuboTV, Premier Player
Preview
The U.S. have won their last four friendlies and enter the Copa America carrying plenty of momentum after their 4-0 win over Bolivia on Saturday. A handful of young, exciting talents have emerged during the 2015-16 campaign, and the likes of Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe are expected to make their first big contributions in a major tournament for the side.
But the Stars and Stripes haven't faced an opponent of Colombia's caliber in some time, and like the U.S., Los Cafeteros enter the tournament on quite the hot streak, winning their last three.
Per Benjamin Baer of MLS Soccer's official website, U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann understands the importance of Friday's clash, which he talked about in a Facebook Live chat:
"This is a little bit like two years ago. We talked about that with the Ghana game before Brazil, before the World Cup started, we made it kind of like our final. We start the tournament with a final.
[...]
We are going to go for it. We are going to do that and we are going to try and make it happen on Friday night because it would give us a big, big boost towards the game against Costa Rica and then finishing off the group with Paraguay. Similar to the World Cup, we need a good result in the first game.
"
The pressure is on Klinsmann, who needs his team to impress during the Copa America to keep his long-term project with the national team alive. His popularity has taken a nosedive since the team's run to the knockout stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and his critics haven't taken it easy on him.
The Guardian's Aaron Timms was particularly scathing in a recent column:
"What, exactly, is the style that Klinsmann has given the national team? Thankfully, we can answer that question with some clarity. The US men’s national team is tactically chaotic, inconsistent, frequently embarrassing, and lumbers along as if borne by the force of America’s size and the public’s expectations alone, constantly threatening to fall apart at the seams, flirting with disgrace on a semi-annual basis, its heavily conditional successes a pure function of demographics and scale.
"
Klinsmann's tactical choices are often questioned, but there's no denying his positive influence when it comes to talent development. The Stars and Stripes haven't produced talent such as Pulisic in a long time, and while he's still just a teenager, the 17-year-old Borussia Dortmund man more than deserved his spot on the team.
Similarly precocious players will make the step up in the coming years—the likes of Julian Green, Gedion Zelalem and Matt Miazga will likely be regular starters in the near future—and their development will be pivotal in the States' race to become a regular contender for silverware.
As of right now, the talent gap with the major football nations is still significant. Colombia will likely field the likes of James Rodriguez, Carlos Bacca and Juan Cuadrado, who are all regular contributors for top teams in Europe.
All eyes will be on James, who suffered through an inconsistent campaign with Real Madrid and needs a solid performance at the Copa America to salvage his season. The 24-year-old remains a world-class attacking midfielder capable of scoring outrageous goals, as you can see in this video:
The 2014 World Cup was his breakout tournament, and he always appears to play his best football for the national team. While he won't have the likes of Radamel Falcao and Jackson Martinez playing ahead of him, his partnership with Bacca will still be dangerous—and one the U.S. will have to look out for.
Prediction: U.S. 1-2 Colombia
