Group B returns to action in Copa America while Group A kicks off in the Mile High City for the Gold Cup. Yesterday’s Copa America action was a bit thrown on its head when Bolivia took a 1-0 lead on Peru before the Peruvians raced back and grabbed three to take a 3-1 victory and move to the top of Group A. Brazil and Venezuela went on after and Brazil appeared to take the lead twice but both times VAR came in and overruled that. A draw has them sitting on four points tied with Peru and leading on GD.

Moving on to Group B action in Copa America, Lio Messi takes the field with Argentina still looking to score their first goal. The Argentines continued the poor form that started during the World Cup, falling 2-0 in their first match and they look to rebound today against Paraguay. Paraguay meanwhile was expected to beat up on Qatar, grabbed a 2-0 lead, and then couldn’t hold on as the drew invited side. Qatar takes on Colombia in what should be a fairly uneven match. Colombia spent a lot of the match against Argentina looking the better side and should feel comfortable facing Qatar. I would even expect to see some squad rotation from Carlos Queiroz’s side.

The Gold Cup has no VAR, so...anything can happen! The USMNT took awhile to get going but beat Guyana handily. Panama and Trinidad & Tobago had a slow first half but eventually turned it on with some end-to-end action in a Panama 2-0 win. Group D in the Gold Cup is going as expected, for now.

Gold Cup Group A got more exciting as Cuban manager Raul Mederos confirmed team captain Yasmani Lopez defected. “The team, as everyone now knows, did not arrive at the Gold Cup with the full delegation and it is true that our No. 4 midfielder Yasmani Lopez abandoned the team on Saturday night.” Cuba wasn’t able to do much of anything against Mexico in a 7-0 loss in a game one, but in a game they were hoping to win, missing their captain could be a big blow. Martinique and Cuba face off to start Group A action in Denver and both sides are looking for their first Gold Cup goal of 2019. Martinique put up a much better fight than Cuba did in their 4-0 loss to Canada, including having the better of the chances in the first half. Martinique just couldn’t keep it up in the second half against a better opposition. With Cuba reeling after a loss and the loss of their captain, expect Martinique to seize the opportunity. Hopefully we get to see Jordy Delem push forward and move out of the CB spot and get involved in the attack.

The most exciting match of the day is probably Canada and Mexico. Both teams took over their first matches combining to win 11-0 in the Rose Bowl. Both teams have an ability to attack via the wings or up the spine. And both teams didn’t even seem to hit their best during their matchday one romps. Canadian boss John Herdman was rewarded for picking Jonathan David over Cyle Larin when David scored twice and he will likely do it again. Canada’s biggest weakness was their backline looked disconnected, specifically the CBs and LB. Hard to say what Mexico’s weakness was when they scored seven and Cuba only took three shots, none on goal. If Mexico has a problem, it’ll be can they handle the pace of Alphonso Davies and David? Davies and David will try and get behind that backline and will probably succeed a couple times, so can they recover in time?

What to Watch?

• How many goals does Colombia win by? Do they rotate the squad? Qatar didn’t look like a great opponent against Paraguay and Colombia is much better than Paraguay. It’ll be shocking if Qatar makes this a tough match, so how many goals can James and Co. find. If they rotate, will James or Falcao still see the field? How many players do they want to rest, is it like the USWNT and they rest seven? Or just one or two older guys?
• Can Qatar make it a game? They did against Paraguay, so can they do it again? They’ll need to be very tight defensively to have a chance and they’ll need to handle the speed and strength that Colombia provides.
• What Argentina shows up? Is this just not the Albicelestes time? Lio Messi has to take over on the field for them to have a chance as of late and he has not always been on at the national level, so who shows up? Does anyone else show up to help him?
• Who shows up for Cuba? They say everyone is still there, but will they be there come kickoff? It’s a Gold Cup tradition to have Cuban defections. But really, watch Martinique find some goals, the attack looked lively against Canada for the first 45 before the Mounties, Maple Leafs, Canadians took over. Watch for Martinique’s attackers to take advantage of sloppy play in the back by Cuba for at least one goal.
• Speed. Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David will get behind Mexico’s backline, can Mexico recover or get them offside? Will they be clinical enough to make El Tri pay? David was against Martinique.
• Mexico wasn’t really tested against Cuba and they are the favorites, does that go to their head? Tata Martino didn’t need to make any tactical changes in game one, how do they respond when they need to halftime in this one?

How to Watch?

Colombia v. Qatar

Group: B

Location: Cícero Pompeu de Toledo Stadium (Morumbi), São Paulo, Brazil

Date and time: June 19, 2019, 2:30 PM PT

TV: Telemundo (Spanish)

Streaming: ESPN+ (affiliate link), Telemundo, FuboTV (affiliate link)

Argentina v. Paraguay

Group: B

Location: Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Mineirão), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Date and time: June 19, 2019, 5:30 PM PT

TV: Telemundo (Spanish)

Streaming: ESPN+ (affiliate link), Telemundo, FuboTV (affiliate link)

Cuba v. Martinique

Group: A

Location: Sports Authority Field, Denver, CO

Date and time: June 19, 2019, 5 PM PT

TV: FS1 (English), Univision (Spanish)

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, Univision, FuboTV(affiliate link)

Mexico v. Canada

Group: A

Location: Sports Authority Field, Denver, CO

Date and time: June 19, 2019, 7:30 PM PT

TV: FS1 (English), Univision (Spanish)

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, Univision, FuboTV (affiliate link)

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This is your Sounder at Heart Copa America and Gold Cup thread. Watch with us.