{"id":1096423,"date":"2019-07-01T17:55:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T16:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1096423"},"modified":"2019-07-01T17:55:37","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T16:55:37","slug":"copa-america-state-of-play-messi-argentina-brazil","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/copa-america-state-of-play-messi-argentina-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi’s struggles and Suarez’s tears: The story of Copa America 2019 so far"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forever a tournament which seems to fly under the radar across the Atlantic, the Copa America has been at it’s entertaining, unpredictable best this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year’s edition, the 46th in total, is being held in the magical country of Brazil, with 12 teams battling it out to be crowned Conmebol’s best team.<\/p>\n

Chile are bidding to win the tournament for the third consecutive time: something which no other nation has managed in the modern era. In what has been a competition rife with drama, we’re giving you the lowdown as we enter the business end of the Copa America.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7297812-kieran-tierney-s-move-to-arsenal-almost-makes-too-much-sense<\/p>\n

Who made the Copa America 2019 semi-finals?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With three out of four of the quarter-finals ending 0-0 after extra-time, it took the lottery of penalties to decide who would make it into the last four. After dominating against 10-man Paraguay, Brazil booked their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2007 after a 4-3 victory on penalties. The hosts will face fierce rivals Argentina, who were the only team to score in the round following their 2-0 win against underdogs Venezuela. This mouth-watering tie is not one to be missed, kicking off at 1:30 am BST on July 2.<\/p>\n

After VAR twice ruled out goals for the holders, it took a 5-4 victory on penalties for Chile to edge past Colombia. In the shock of the round, Luis Suarez missed the decisive penalty as Uruguay crashed out to Peru, with the Barcelona star visibly upset. Edinson Cavani and Diego Godin both missed golden opportunities in normal time, meaning Uruguay miss out on the semi-finals for the third tournament in a row.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Who are the favourites?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Brazil (8\/11)<\/strong>: KEY STAT: Goalkeeper Alisson hasn’t conceded a goal in the tournament yet, saving a penalty in the last round.<\/p>\n

Argentina (7\/2)<\/strong>: KEY STAT: This is the fifth time in Copa America history that Argentina have reached the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Chile (7\/2)<\/strong>: KEY STAT: Chile have won their last three Copa America penalty shoot-outs, including victories in each of the last two finals.<\/p>\n

Peru (10\/1)<\/strong>: KEY STAT: Peru have reached the semi-finals for the third time in four tournaments, but they haven’t reached the final since winning the tournament in 1975.<\/p>\n