Argentina will lock horns with Colombia in Quarter Final 3 of Copa America 2015 at Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar on 26 June.
Argentina finished at the top of Group B after the group stages of the Copa America 2015. But they will have to get their goal-scoring form back, if they would want to qualify for the semi finals of the tournament.
They ended their first match of the tournament with a 2-2 draw with Paraguay. And they managed to score a solitary goal against Jamaica and Uruguay respectively. Their win against Jamaica pushed them into the knock-out stages of the tournament.
Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero are likely to lead the Argentine attack. Messi, who has had a wonderful season with Barcelona, did not have that much of an impact in Copa America 2015, but everyone knows that he can turn any game single-handedly if he is on song and Colombia is aware of that.
"Messi is quite simply the best player in the world and Argentina have played in the same way that they did at the World Cup.They have some new elements that are contributing much to the team too, with Gerardo Martino beginning to implement his plan for them," said Colombia head coach Jose Pekerman.
Meanwhile, Colombia have managed to score only one goal throughout the group stages. They were lucky to make it to the quarter final of Copa America 2015. They were one of the best third-placed teams in Group B and thus they sneaked into the knock-out stages.
Carlos Bacca, Carlos Sánchez and Edwin Valencia will be missing the encounter because of injuries and suspensions against Argentina and that could be an advantage for Gerardo Martino's side. But Pekerman is confident that his side would do well despite the absence of some key players. Their star striker Radamel Falcao continued with his poor run of form and has not scored a single goal in this tournament. Real Madrid's James Rodriguez has also been average and that could be a concern for Pekerman.
"The absences of the two midfielders are especially important for Colombia. I don't know if they have players to replace them in the same way. It is clear that one of the two to come in will be Alexander Mejia, but even with differences in personnel their pattern will be more or less familiar.
"But we don't need to worry about the opponents. We do worry about the referees. The best referees are here at the Copa América but we need them to act in such a way," Martino told the reporters at a press conference.
Expected Line-ups:
Argentina: Romero; Rojo, Otamendi, Garay, Zabaleta; Biglia, Pastore, Mascherano; Di Maria, Aguero, Messi.
Colombia: Ospina; Murillo, Zapata, Armero, Arias; Valencia, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Cuadrado, Gutierrez; Falcao.
Where to Watch Live
Get the Match Report HERE
The Quarter Final match between Argentina and Colombia is scheduled for 8:30pm local time (5am IST, 12:30am BST, 7:30pm ET) with live coverage in India on Sony Kix and Sony Six HD. Live streaming option is available on Livsports.
The UK viewers can switch to Premier Sports. Copa America Quarter Final 3 can be live-streamed on Premier Player.
People in the US can watch the match live on beIn Sports and stream the same on beIn Sports Connect, Fubo TV and TYC Sports.com.
Viewers in Australia can live stream the match on beIn Sports Connect Australia.
Middle East viewers can watch the match live on beIn Sports Arabia 1 HD and beIn Sports Arabia 2 HD.
