2015 Copa America: Argentina vs Jamaica preview

June 19, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

ARGENTINA-PARAGUAYFollowing the hard-fought triumph over Uruguay, Argentina look to secure the first place in the group with a comfortable win over bottom-placed Jamaica.

The Reggae Boyz have showed a lot of promise so far in Chile, but two narrow defeats mean they are already out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals.

Having come so close to winning the 2014 World Cup gold medal, Argentina arrived at the 2015 Copa America hoping to make things right in Chile.

La Albiceleste did not have the best of starts, sharing spoils with Paraguay after squandering a two-goal lead from the first period.

But, Argentina did well to return to winning ways against very good Uruguay side, and are now 1.60 (3/5) for a half-time/full-time win over Jamaica.

La Albiceleste do need to secure the first place in the group if they want to avoid strong opponents in the quarter-finals, but Tata Martino, nonetheless, plans to rest his entire starting line-up.

Sergio Aguero will not be risked as he battles a shoulder problem, while Sergio Romero, Javier Mascherano, Facundo Roncaglia, Marcos Rojo and Nicolas Otamendi are all one yellow card away from suspension.

With the likes of Lavezzi, Tevez and Higuain tipped to start, Argentina should still have enough quality in the side to see off Jamaica on Saturday.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Andujar – Roncaglia, Demichelis, Garay, Casco – Pereyra, Gago, Lamela – Lavezzi, Higuain, Tevez.

While dominating the Caribbean region, Jamaica have enjoyed little success on international stage, having only reached the World Cup finals in 1998.

The Reggae Boyz qualified for Gold Cup semi-finals on two occasions, while this is the first time they are playing at the Copa America having received special invitation.

And while many expected them to serve as Group B’s whipping boys, Jamaica produced two very good performances at the start of the tournament.

The Reggae Boyz matched both Uruguay and Paraguay for large periods of the games, and conceded the only goal in the second game after a shocking mistake by keeper Kerr.

Jamaica now hope to end the competition on a high and no doubt Winnie Schafer’s charges will relish the opportunity to test their skills against Argentina stars.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-1-1): Kerr – Mariappa, Hector, Morgan, Lawrence – McCleary, Austin, Watson, McAnuff – Dawkins – Barnes.

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