Copa America: Can Ecuador Stop the Argentina Charge?

Argentina vs Ecuador

The 2021 Copa America is gathering momentum now, as we head towards the business end of the tournament.

Both Argentina and Brazil have lived up to the pre-tournament hype, each topping their group with ten points from four games and the SBOTOP team will be watching them closely as they progress through the knockout stages. The Copa America 2020 betting odds favour the Selecao to win the tournament but one slip up will allow Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina through the door.

Having topped Group A the Albiceleste faces the nation which finished fourth in Group B and that’s Gustavo Alfaro’s Ecuador. With Bolivia and Venezuela eliminated, these two teams are joined by Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia and Peru as the 47^th Copa America continues at pace.

Argentina are well backed to make it through this next hurdle but while Ecuador only just made it to the final eight, they are hard to beat and will not make it easy for Lionel Messi and co.

Talking Points

Messi’s quest for the Holy Grail

But Messi is on a mission. The Barcelona star has often, and unfairly, been criticised for his inability to match domestic success with glory on the international stage. The fact that Argentina has failed to win a major trophy for almost three decades hurts the nations’ passionate football fans. And with Messi being in the side for half that time they feel their talisman should have become a messiah by now! They were World Cup runners up in 2014 and have been runners up in four of the last six Copa Americas, so there has been no lack of intent on the part of Messi or his teammates.

Copa America: Argentina have been unbeaten in their last 17 matches — Argentina players celebrate after their match against Bolivia

But winning the Copa America is never easy and Scaloni’s team started this campaign with a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Chile. They followed that up with a pair of steely 1-0 wins over tough opposition, Uruguay and Paraguay, and then Messi scored twice in the 4-1 thumping of Bolivia to take his competition tally to three. The Blaugrana man became the most capped Argentine in history, his 148^th cap overtaking the record set by Javier Mascherano and he also took his goals tally to 75, to keep up an impressive one in two scoring ratio.

Argentina were three up by half time and though Bolivia pulled one back just after the break, Lautaro Martinez added a fourth to make it a resounding victory.

They are looking a solid bet, unbeaten since 2019, and Scaloni’s team, lead by Messi, is determined to end the trophy drought once and for all.

Ecuador can tough it out

With three draws and a single defeat, Ecuador had enough to stay above Venezuela and finish fourth in Group B as La Vinotinto ended their winless campaign with a 1-0 home defeat to Peru. El Tri started with a defeat to Colombia but drew with Venezuela and Peru, both 2-2, and then pulled off a stunning result to draw with Tite’s Brazil and squeeze through to the knockout phase. The Selacao went ahead thanks to a first half header from Real Madrid’s Eder Militao but when the Brazil defence floundered, Ecuador striker Angel Mena pounced.

Midfielder Ayrton Preciado has starred for El Tri and has two goals to his name, and the 26 year old will play in an advanced position to support his strikers.

The way Ecuador survived with the odds stacked against them will put Argentina on guard.

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History

La Albiclesete are twice World Champions and 14 times Copa America champions but many players in the current squad weren’t alive the last time their nation lifted a trophy, the 1993 Copa America. Ecuador’s best ever performance came in the 1993 competition when they finished fourth and El Tri also made the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup.

Argentina leads the head to heads by seven victories to three and there have been four draws in all meetings since 2004. Scaloni’s men have won the last three, a run dating back to 2015, a 3-1 win to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and 6-1 hammering in a 2019 friendly and then a 1-0 victory last October in the 2022 South American World Cup qualifying group. On that occasion, Messi scored the only goal from the penalty spot after Lucas Ocampos was felled in the area.

In contrast with Argentina’s long unbeaten run and sequence of three successive victories, Ecuador are without a win in six, in all competitions but they did win all four of their previous matches, and they have drawn the last three; El Tri are not serial losers!

Betting Tip

	Argentina vs Ecuador	Argentina Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 1.79
	July 4, 09:00 (GMT+8)

But at 1.45 to win it will be major Copa America 2020 news if Argentina are thwarted by these underdogs who are at 6.60, with the draw at odds of 4.20.

Argentina have conceded only twice so far in the competition and I expect this to be either a 1-0 victory at 5.20 or a 2-0 at odds of 6.00, and I’m leaning towards two.