Copa America Betting – Brazil Meet Upstart Ecuador
Brazil (-115) vs Ecuador (+340), Draw (+245)
Despite the fact that Brazil don’t have the talent they once did, they are one of the favorites to win the Copa America Centenario. The first game of the tournament for the Selecao will be this Saturday when they take on a dangerous Ecuador team at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (10:00 PM Eastern).
The Brazilians are second-favorites to win the tournament, listed at 4/1 in the odds. (Only Argentina have shorter odds at 7/4.) After the debacle that was the 2014 World Cup semi-final, which they lost 7-0 to Germany, the team brought in Dunga for his second stint as manager.
After that 7-0 drubbing, it’s not a huge surprise that Brazil is giving Dunga another shot, even though he flamed out the first time around, getting bounced in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup. Dunga is known for installing a disciplined approach, especially on defense, something Brazil have long struggled with.
But he’s already been on the job for almost two years and the results aren’t much better. While the defense looks improved, the offense has lost some mojo. The team still doesn’t have the balance necessary to re-establish itself as a world power.
Making matters worse, star striker Neymar isn’t on the roster for the Copa.
Ecuador, on the other hand, are a team on the rise. They are aggressive when they have the ball, and currently have the talent to compete with the best that South America has to offer. They’re currently tied for first with Uruguay in the continent’s Russia 2018 qualifiers, winning five of their first six fixtures, including a win over Argentina in Buenos Aires.
But the team hasn’t had a lot of success against Brazil over the last few years, losing four of the last five and drawing the other. In fact, Ecuador haven’t beaten Brazil since 2004, when they took a 1-0 win at home in Quito.
It’s hard to pick between history and the teams’ recent form. At the end of the day, I just do not trust that this Brazil team is worthy of its current odds. With Saturday’s game being played on a neutral field, the draw (+245) seems like a very generous bet.
Pick: Draw (+245).
(Photo Credit: D@LY3D (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/].)
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.
