Costa Rica v Bermuda, Gold Cup and Copa America: game threads and how to watch

Group B kicks off and Lodeiro’s Uruguay is back on the field!

By Jacob Landsberg@jhlands Jun 20, 2019, 2:30pm PDT

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Soccer: International Friendly Soccer-Costa Rica at USA

Raise your hand if you have heard of Nicolas Lodeiro. You have? Cool, us too. Apparently not everyone had before Copa America and those that had, outside of us here in the Lodeiro Fan Club, were unhappy an MLS player was named to the Uruguayan squad. Well, he quieted the doubters with an amazing goal to start the game. The Sounder then proceeded to put in a man-of-the-match quality shift. Uruguay went on to shutdown Ecuador and win 4-0. Their opponent, Japan, had a similar result in the first match, 4-0, except they were the zero. Japan looked lost and outmatched against Chile, and Uruguay looks even better than Chile. Uruguay may rotate the squad and are probably about 80 percent guaranteed to advance through the group stage with the results in other matches (will likely be, at minimum, the second best third place team) so far. Even if they do, they’ll be looking to match the four goal tally by Chile, in case Chile does the same to Ecuador.

In yesterday’s matches, Colombia took forever to find a goal against Qatar but they eventually did and won 1-0. Yes, I said it would be a blowout ... and if you look at chances, it was. The final ball, final cross, the shot, all were just off. Duván Zapata had the winning goal but also when running a counter in stoppage he pulled his shot wide in a 1-v-1 situation, didn’t make the keeper work. A ten-cent setup with a one-cent finish, that was typical. Good news for them, they are still leading the group on six points and are guaranteed to win the group. Argentina went down to Paraguay in the first half but managed to get back in with a Messi penalty to prevent a second straight loss.

Haiti had a good win over Bermuda after going down 1-0 to storm back and win 2-1. Last time they played Nicaragua, Haiti won 2-0, including playing most of the match down a man and scoring once after the card. Haiti looks confident on the ball and will likely take the game to Nicaragua and looked to do what they couldn’t do against Bermuda, get a lead early. Costa Rica, meanwhile, is likely going to rotate the squad while they can, and will look to score in bunches against Bermuda. Costa Rica didn’t have to hit top gear against Nicaragua to secure a 4-0 win first time out and they likely won’t again.

Cuba played without their captain, saw a player get sent off with a second yellow caused by hands to the face, and lost to Martinique. Martinique looked the better of the sides against Canada for a half and continued that for a whole game against lesser competition. Jordy Delem played CB in the shutout. Delem was not involved in the goals but former Sounder Kevin Parsemain was, though he missed a penalty. The Mexico-Canada match was a thrilling match in which the ref allowed the physicality they both wanted. Mexico showed their class and won 3-1 but Canada did expose the Mexican backline throughout the match. Mexico’s attack showed sitting back is not going to be enough to stop them. Canada showed that they are still the lock to finish second and that they can capitalize on mistakes by a defense.

What to Watch?

NICOLAS LODEIRO! The Nico Lodeiro show was pretty good in the first Uruguay match that earned him a goal, a yellow, two-would-be assists (secondary assists), and a shiner. Hopefully Uruguay starts him again and lets him loose in the semi-free midfield role he played against Ecuador. Japan gave up four against Chile and Uruguay scored four on Ecuador. Let’s see what happens.
Can Japan stay compact? Japan was stretched time and time again as Chile could do no wrong. Uruguay got to play an Ecuadorian side down a man but they were running over them for the first 24 minutes at even strength, how will this be different? They’ll need to keep Uruguay to one goal max if they want to win.
Can Haiti continue their “confusing” success? Haiti tied the match against Bermuda up with a great free kick routine that included a fake kick, confusion as to why the ball wasn’t kicked, then the cross after all. Can they do it again? WIll they even try? What other tricks do they have up their sleeves?
How easy will Costa Rica have it? Bermuda, like Nicaragua, will be blown out by Costa Rica, so will they score four again? More? Will Costa Rica have squad rotation and slow everything down? Expect them to dominate and ensure the GD is high, so if Haiti turns out a big win over Nicaragua, a draw in the final match won’t lose Costa Rica the group.

How to Watch?

Uruguay v. Japan

Group: C

Location: Arena do Grêmio, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Date and time: June 20, 2019, 4 PM PT

TV: Telemundo (Spanish)

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

Nicaragua v. Haiti

Group: B

Location: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX

Date and time: June 20, 2019, 4 PM PT

TV: FS1 (English), Univision (Spanish)

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