Our prediction for this Copa America match:
Argentina begin their Copa America title defence with a match against Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. La Albiceleste are eyeing their sixth consecutive win in all competitions and they are seen as hot favourites to win Friday’s clash. Both Rodrigo de Paul and Angel Di Maria should be recalled to the starting XI after the duo came off the bench in a 4-1 win over Guatemala, while Man Utd defender Lisandro Martinez has overcome his injury.
Roma ace Paulo Dybala has been omitted, but Leo Messi and Co. are surely capable of making life difficult for the Canucks. Canada, on the other hand, did well to hold star-studded France to a goalless draw in their last warm-up game, but they will have a mountain to climb in Atlanta. When Argentina and Canada met in a friendly back in 2010 Argentina crushed Canada 5-0 and we predict that history is going to repeat itself.
Highlighted Player (Lionel Messi):
Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the best players in the history of football. He was born on 24 June, 1987 in Rosario and he began his football career at Newell’s Old Boys. At age 10 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, but having realized his potential at a young age, Barcelona decided to pay for his treatment.
Messi joined Barca in 2001 and he has been playing for the Camp Nou outfit ever since. The Argentine magician has won eight La Liga trophies with Barca and he helped the Catalan giants lift no less than four Champions League titles (2005/2006, 2008/2009, 2010/2011, 2014/2015).
In the 2011/2012 La Liga campaign Messi scored 50 goals for Barca, while netting 14 goals in the 2011/2012 Champions League campaign. The five-time Golden Ball award winner has established himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, but he has yet to win a trophy with Argentina national team at major tournaments. Leo Messi, though, has won Olympic Gold Medal (2008) and FIFA World Youth Championship (2005), with la Albiceleste.
Highlighted Team (Canada):
Canada national football team played their first official match back in 1924 when they suffered a 3-2 loss to Australia in Brisbane. The following year the two teams faced each other one in Adelaide, with the Canadians managing to get their revenge on the Socceroos. The Canucks had several unsuccessful attempts to make it to the World Cup finals, but in 1986 they finally booked their place at the showpiece tournament.
Canada faced France in their opener, with Jean-Pierre Papin scoring the winner for les Tricolores in the dying minutes of the match. The Canadians were beaten by Hungary and USSR in the next two group games as well and, as a result, they failed to advance to the knockout stages.
Speaking of the team’s trophies, the Canucks won the CONCACAF Gold cup on two occasions (1985, 2000), with the team beating Honduras and Colombia respectively in the title games. Canada national football team play their home games at BMO Field and the capacity of the venue is 30,000.