Argentina remain the 5/4 favourites to seal Copa America glory on home soil but the South American giants have hardly enjoyed a glittering start to the competition.
Bolivia and Colombia have both managed to frustrate Sergio Bastia’s Argentina, with Bolivia grabbing a 1-1 draw and Colombia holding out for a 0-0 stalemate.
However, Bastia is confident they can secure victory over Costa Rica in their final Group A fixture and book a spot in the knock-out stages.
“The things are not going the way they were in the friendly matches. No one expected this kind of game, nothing comes out the way we expected,” Batista said.
“I remain confident about these players, they are very good. We’re a little slow in the front. This does not require major change, we will play with two defensive midfielders and maybe one more winger, one man is missing in the area.
“We have a game against Costa Rica, and we can have five points to qualify. We need to keep calm, think it is a final and come out with this mentality.”
Argentina certainly boast plenty of quality amongst their ranks, including Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez and Atletico Madrid frontman Sergio Aguero, and Basita will be desperate for his star men to replicate their club form for their country.
Bolivia can take a massive step towards reaching the next stage of the Copa America with a victory over Costa Rica on Thursday night.
The Bolivians took an improbable lead over Argentina in their opening fixture before being pegged back and they’re evens to take maximum points on Thursday, while the draw is 11/5 and Costa Rica are 5/2.
Bolivia will have been given a massive boost in confidence following their display against Argentina and they should prove too strong for minnows Costa Rica.
However, neither Bolivia nor Costa Rica are particularly blessed in terms of attacking talent and a single goal could separate the two sides, with under 2.5 goals priced at 8/11.
On Friday, Uruguay take on Chile in what could well prove to be an interesting contest.
Uruguay are the slight favourites at 7/5, while Chile are 7/4 and the draw is 21/10. Chile have plenty of attacking talent, including one of the most wanted men this summer – Udinese schemer Alexis Sanchez – but Uruguay are a well organised and efficient unit, with some talented players of their own.
Chile saw off Mexico in their opening fixture, while Uruguay were held by Peru, and the fixture does promise to be a close encounter.
Uruguay will be desperate to grab their first win of the tournament and should be able to get the better of Chile.
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