2015 Copa America Betting – Chile vs. Peru
Chile (-200) vs Peru (+750), Draw (+320)
Chile have been the most consistent team to date in the 2015 Copa America. Tonight, the hosts will face arguably the surprise team of the tournament, Peru, at National Stadium in Santiago (7:30 PM Eastern) looking for a spot in the final.
The stars seem to be aligning for the Chileans in myriad ways. Not only are they playing at home with their greatest generation of players, but they watched traditional powers Brazil and Colombia get ousted in the quarterfinals and avoided Argentina in the semis. The team – which has never hoisted the Copa America – is now a heavy favorite to reach its first tournament final since 1987.
Chile have posted a 3-1-0 record, largely on the strength of their offense, beating Ecuador (2-0) and Bolivia (5-0) and drawing Mexico (3-3) in the group state before downing Uruguay (1-0) in the quarterfinals.
The victory over Uruguay was massive for a country that hasn’t found much success on the international stage.
“Beating Uruguay is a defining moment and an important step because Uruguay at this stage are difficult for any team,” Chile manager Jorge explained to Be in Sports.
Chile’s next opponents, Peru, were a long shot at the outset of the Copa America, but have survived to this point by beating Venezuela (1-0) and drawing Colombia (0-0) in the round robin portion (while losing to Brazil, 2-1) and then dispatching of Bolivia (3-1) in the quarterfinals.
While many would say that Peru have received a favorable schedule to date, manager Ricardo Garega believes his team is full value for a spot in the final four.
“We’ve got the weapons to be a competitive national team,” said Garega to Be in Sports.
His side has consistently struggled against Chile of late, though, losing nine of the last ten (dating back to 2006). Chile took the last match, a 2014 international friendly, 3-0. Peru should give the Chileans more trouble this time out, but the hosts are destined for the final.
Pick: Chile (-200).
(Photo credit: Fanny Schertzer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
