With the Copa America 2021 competition having entered the knockout phase of the tournament, there will be many nations that will be getting ready to potentially celebrate winning the prestigious trophy that South American international football has to offer.
Naturally, with a number of world-class nations and players continually being on display, there are always a number of bettors from around the world that are interested in the tournament, with those using Finnish sports betting sites such as suomiveikkaus.com amongst many who get involved when they can.
There have been a number of great matches to have been scheduled in the competition this year, with the quarter-finals providing some key matchups.
Brazil will play Chile, Peru will face Paraguay whereas Uruguay will play Colombia. The final last four-match that will take place, though, is between Argentina and Ecuador.
Indeed, Argentina are a team that have been full of superstar talent and potential at any football tournament that they compete in, however they have always fallen short of expectation; even if a certain Lionel Messi is doing his best to carry them on his back at times – perhaps carrying FC Barcelona and the Argentina national football team is even too much for one of the best football players in the world?
However, the game against Ecuador could be the perfect opportunity for the nation to advance and finally get over the line and lift the title. Of course, semi-finals and a Final would still be in their way, but a win against Ecuador could light the belly in a bigger way than it already has.
Naturally, the two sides have plenty of history when looking at their previous meetings between them, with 11v11 showing how favourable they have been to the Argentines, however there is one fixture that stands out and one that Ecuador will want to avoid a repeat of.
Going way back to their meeting in the 2004 edition of the Copa America, one Argentine had haunted and terrorised their goalkeeper and defence all game, as Javier Saviola – who was contracted to Barcelona at the time (on loan with AS Monaco) – netted a 15-minute hat-trick in the second half.
In fact, Ecuador were doing okay considering they conceded a penalty in the first 5 minutes of the game, as they levelled things in the 62nd minute. But, just three minutes later, Saviola decided to get his act together and got the first of three.
Andres D’Alessandro and Lucho Gonzalez added further salt to the wound as they ran out 6-1 winners.
Hopefully – for Ecuador’s sake – a repeat of that scale does not happen by another FC Barcelona man when they meet at the weekend.
