Copa roundup

Not a good competition thus far for the hosts. They played Colombia on Wednesday but could only manage a no score draw. It was the same old story for the Argies - plenty of talent on show, but no end result. In fact, by the end of the game they had the combination of Messi, Tevez, Agüero and Higuaín on the pitch. It actually wouldn't have been that big an injustice if the Colombians had nicked all 3 points.

The local papers have been writing about the dissatisfaction of the 'albiceleste' fans, and I was reading an article where Tévez has been saying he feels hurt by all the boos and insults they received after the Colombia game (see he's thrown his rattle out of the pram again at Eastlands, or the Etihad Stadium to be correct). Their last group game (or last game) is a must win affair next Monday against Costa Rica...

...who put in a very good shift, 2 to no, against poor old Bolivia last night. The FIFA world rankings (let's be realistic - how much faith can you put in those when they have England ahead of Brazil) show Costa Rica in 55th place while the Bolivians are 93rd, so on paper it wasn't really a surprise. One player who stood out for the Central Americans was Joel Campbell (plays for Dep. Saprissa in San Jose). He's only 19, but he took the second goal like a player with a few more seasons behind him. Should have been at least 3-0 as the Costa Ricans missed a penalty in the second half, the Bolivian keeper doing well to save the spot kick and the rebound too. The Bolivians finished with 9 players, two being dismissed in the last 20 minutes.

What's coming up this weekend?

The big game today is Chile v Uruguay. Uruguay could only manage a 1-1 against Peru in their first game while Chile left it late to beat the youngsters of Mexico, 2-1, in their opener. Lots of attacking potential in this game with Sanchez and Suazo up front for Chile and Forlán, Cavani and Suárez for Uruguay. Hopefully this'll be the belter the competition has been crying out for.

Ecuador play Venezuela tomorrow afternoon and 'la Tri' could really do with a victory, expecially as their last group game is against the team that are one place behind England in FIFA's rankings. 'Toño' Valencia is definitely gonna sit out tomorrow's game after taking a knock to 'that ankle' during the Paraguay encounter. According to the local press, there's still a chance he might make the Brazil game but in the meantime he's being replaced by Michael Arroyo (San Luis, Mexico). I'm not that gemmed up on the Venezuelans but locals will definitely be expecting Ecuador to win this one.

The rest of the games:

Today - Peru v Mexico
Tomorrow - Brazil v Paraguay
Sunday - Colombia v Bolivia