Argentina vs. Brazil
Argentina, without Messi, Tevez and Aguero, welcomes Brazil, with Neymar back in the fold, to the Monumental stadium.
“We have some heavy injuries. But we must get the three points,” said Angel Di Maria, the multifunctional midfielder of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
For his part, the coach of Brazil Dunga admits that “the team must improve.”
The referees for the match all hail from Paraguay: Antonio Arias, Eduardo Cardozo and Milciades Saldivar.
The match is set to start at 9:00 pm (24H00 GMT).
Probable starting teams:
Argentina: Sergio Romero – Facundo Roncaglia, Nicolás Otamendi, Gino Peruzzi, Marcos Rojo – Matías Kranevitter, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di María, Erik Lamela o Nicolás Gaitán – Ezequiel Lavezzi o Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuaín. Coach: Gerardo Martino.
Brazil: Alisson – Daniel Alves, Miranda, David Luiz, Filipe Luís – Luiz Gustavo, Elias, Oscar, Willian, Douglas Costa – Neymar. Coach: Dunga.
Ecuador vs. Uruguay
An injured Ecuador, with the notable absences of its stars Antonio Valencia and Enner Valencia, face leaders Uruguay, who welcome back Edinson Cavani.
“There are many players and there are options. The thing is that Antonio and Enner are difficult to replace,” said Gustavo Quinteros, coach of the tricolor.
“We’re going to work hard to limit the opponent, trying to create problems with the aim of getting points,” said Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez.
The match will begin at 4:00 pm (21H00 GMT) in the Olimpico Atahualpa stadium in Quito, under the orders of Ricardo Ribeiro and his assistants Fabricio Da Silva and Rodrigo Correa (all from Brazil).
Posible starting teams:
Ecuador: Alexander Domínguez – Frickson Erazo, Gabriel Achilier, Walter Ayoví, Juan Paredes – Christian Noboa, Segundo Castillo, Jefferson Montero, Ángel Mena – Felipe Caicedo and Miller Bolaños. Coach: Gustavo Quinteros.
Uruguay: Fernando Muslera – Maximiliano Pereira, Sebastián Coates, Diego Godín, Martín Cáceres- Carlos Sánchez, Egidio Arévalo Rios, Álvaro González, Álvaro Pereira- Diego Rolan and Edinson Cavani. Coach: Óscar Tabarez.
Chile vs. Colombia
With victories in the first two rounds, 2-0 over Brazil in Santiago and 4-3 against Peru in Lima, Chile is firing on all cylinders for their match against Colombia.
“We respect Colombia. We know the quality of their players and they have a great coach too,” said goalkeeper and captain Claudio Bravo.
Colombia arrives to this match after a 2-0 win over Peru and a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay in the first two rounds. However for those two matches they were without the services of striker Radamel Falcao.
The good news is the presence of James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), who has recovered from a hamstring injury that left him off the national team for a month.
The match between Chile and Colombia will be played at the Nacional Stadium starting at 8:30 pm local time (23h30 GMT). The match referee will be Paraguayan Enrique Caceres, assisted on the lines by his compatriots Rodney Aquino and Carlos Caceres.
Probable starting teams:
Chile: Claudio Bravo – Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Eugenio Mena – Francisco Silva, Matías Fernández, Arturo Vidal – Jorge Valdivia, Alexis Sánchez, Eduardo Vargas. Coach: Jorge Sampaoli.
Colombia: David Ospina – Santiago Arias, Cristian Zapata, Jeison Murillo, Frank Fabra – Carlos Sánchez, Fredy Guarín, James Rodríguez, Edwin Cardona – Teófilo Gutiérrez y Carlos Bacca. Coach: José Pekerman.
Bolivia vs. Venezuela
“We’ve played two games and we must win. But this is an opponent that has improved a lot, playing good football and who have a good coaching staff,” said Bolivia coach Julio Cesar Baldivieso.
Venezuela now has more international players in their ranks although in this match they will be without defender Fernando Amorebieta (Middlesbrough, England) and midfielder Juan Pablo Añor (Malaga, Spain), through injury.
“We…do not want to lose again,” said midfielder Ronald Vargas (AEK, Greece).
The match is scheduled for 4:00 pm local time (20H00 GMT) at the Hernando Siles stadium.
The match will be led by Peruvian referee Victor Carrillo, assisted on the lines by compatriots Jonny Bossio and Cesar Escano.
Probable starting teams:
Bolivia: Daniel Vaca – Erwin Saavedra, Ronald Eguino, Edward Zenteno, Leonel Morales – Walter Veizaga, Alejandro Chumacero, Jaime Arrascaita, Rudy Cardozo – Juan Carlos Arce and Yasmani Duk. Coach: Julio César Baldivieso.
Venezuela: Alain Baroja – Roberto Rosales, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Franklin Lucena, Gabriel Cíchero – Tomás Rincón, Luis Manuel Seijas, César González, Ronald Vargas – Juan Falcón and Salomón Rondón. Coach: Noel Sanvicente.
FRom: conmebol.com
