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Hello! No more time for talking. The Copa America’s here — and we’re all over it.
On the way:
🇺🇸 Acid test awaits the USMNT
🏆 Messi chases Copa record
✈️ England’s left-wing complex
🇪🇸 Why Spain’s tiki-taka is old hat
Time To Shine: USMNT’s Golden Generation looking for respect 🌞
Down tools, America. It’s Copa time. And for the USMNT, it’s a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is scenario.
That’s not so much the opinion of TAFC as the view of people with skin in the game. Over the past few days, I’ve noted the recurring theme of a country losing patience with promises on the never-never.
Antonee Robinson, the USMNT left-back, is out to earn some proper respect. Alexi Lalas, their long-since-retired defender, believes it’s “time to put up or shut up.” Johnny Cardoso — who could have played for Brazil, but declared for the States — says the USMNT are in the Copa “because we want to win it”. Clear as day.
We’re talking about that age-old hurdle for a gifted, young-ish squad who’ve had smoke blown up them for a while: moving beyond potential and reaching the day when the pieces fall into place. All but three of the 26-man U.S. roster play in Europe. They have top-level experience. So there’s pressure in spades.
The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio thinks a semi-final berth is the benchmark if coach Gregg Berhalter wants to talk about tangible progress on the other side. It’s hard to disagree.
Who are favourites?
Nobody is unrealistic enough to tip the USMNT to go all the way. And while Brazil aren’t short of verve, the prevailing view is that Argentina will win. I’m with Thom Harris: the romantic in me would love Uruguay to do it, but there’s only so much water their coach Marcelo Bielsa can turn into wine.
In terms of predictions, our discussion about which players might secure big transfers on the back of the Copa is a good one. Colombia’s Yaser Asprilla, from English second-tier side Watford, is a great shout. Their form makes them a threat and if the 20-year-old gets a decent amount of game time, this box of tricks can get eyelids fluttering.
I’m with our experts on the surprise package too. Fire a rocket up Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and it could well be Ecuador.
Make the most of Messi
I don’t care how much titanium Lionel Messi has in his bones. He cannot have another Copa in him, surely. Even he can feel the sands of time falling.
He’s never anything other than pivotal internationally but as we saw at the 2022 World Cup, and as we’ll doubtless see in tonight’s opening game against Canada, Argentina’s machine has a whole lot more to it. Which, scarily, takes a touch of responsibility off him.
Messi needs five goals to become the Copa’s all-time leading scorer (the record is 17). Him being him, it’s doable. Who remembers the nonchalance of his second, way back in 2007? He’s spent a lifetime taking the proverbial.
Lionel Messi in the U.S., a legend knowing ‘there’s not a lot of time left’
Set to turn 37 on June 24, he’s having a blast in the States, killing it with Inter Miami and rolling on the celebrity circuit. Jesse Marsch, the Canada coach, is in for a big tactics test and his team can’t afford to cheaply write off this first fixture if they want to get out of Group A. Neither Peru nor Chile will go quietly.
📺 Group A: Argentina vs Canada (8pm ET/1am UK) — Fox Sports 1, Fubo, Premier Sports 1. Live blog (from 2pm ET).
News Round-Up 🗞️
In the next few hours, we should get a firm answer from France coach Didier Deschamps about the severity of Kylian Mbappe’s broken nose. Mbappe training yesterday can’t be a bad sign.
Serbia and Slovenia meet later. Keep an eye on the crowd. The Serbian Football Federation has been fined more than £8,000 ($10,000) by UEFA over provocative flags flown by their fans during Sunday’s Group C defeat to England.
The city of Brussels is refusing to stage a Nations League contest between Belgium and Israel, slated for September. It says the conflict in Gaza makes it a “very high-risk match”, even though there would probably have been no crowd in attendance. The Belgian FA says it “deplores” the decision.
Euros Zone: England left thinking
England go again today, against Denmark in Frankfurt, with Phil Foden set to play on the left side of midfield in an unchanged line-up.
The 24-year-old on the wide left didn’t work perfectly for Gareth Southgate against Serbia but in fairness, Southgate is dealing with a conundrum which has bothered international coaches through the ages — a shortage of natural candidates for that position.
Spain got playing Andres Iniesta there to work. Germany did likewise with Mesut Ozil. It feels like England have been facing this dilemma since Sven-Goran Eriksson was trying to shoehorn Paul Scholes into his team 20 years ago.
One player you won’t see there is Jack Grealish — left behind by England, much to the chagrin of mayonnaise manufacturer Hellmann’s (Best Foods, if you’re in a certain part of the U.S.) which paid him to be its advertising face for Euro 2024. I say chagrin. The faux-pas has given Hellmann’s stacks of publicity.
📺 Group C: Slovenia vs Serbia (9am ET/2pm UK) — Fox Sports 1, Fubo, ITV, live blog; Denmark vs England (12pm/5pm) — Fox Sports 1, Fubo, BBC, live blog
Germany and Shaqiri look sharp
No nonsense from Euros hosts Germany, who are through to the knockout stages after beating Hungary 2-0 on Wednesday. Their second goal, by Ilkay Gundogan, was straight out of the playbook he memorised so well at Manchester City.
The rest of Group A is undecided, and Gundogan’s effort wasn’t a patch on Xherdan Shaqiri’s inch-perfect rocket in Switzerland’s 1-1 draw with Scotland (below) later in the day. It made him the first MLS player to score in a European Championship game. Choosing the goal of the tournament will be impossible at this rate.
Strange Spain stat
Here’s a statistic and a half. Up until their 3-0 win against Croatia at the weekend, Spain had retained a higher percentage of possession than their opponents for 136 competitive games straight. That’s a streak going back to Euro 2008.
It makes sense when you think about it because Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka philosophy at Barcelona — born in that same year — gripped football as a whole, and Spain in particular. But the game no longer obsesses over possession to the same extent and Croatia edging 53 per cent of it on Saturday was a sign of Spain moving with the times.
Certain coaches, including Guardiola at Manchester City, still see the ball as king. An increasing number of others are content to operate with less of it. Tiki-taka helped Spain dominate Europe and the world but as the in-vogue concept, it’s had its day.
📺 Group B: Spain vs Italy (3pm/8pm) — Fox Sports, Fubo, ITV, live blog.
📹 Grab instant reaction to today’s tasty Euros fixtures with the Totally Football Show’s daily live stream at 5.30pm UK (12.30 ET)
Team Talk 🗣️
Got a question/feedback? Email us: theathleticfc@theathletic.com
(Photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
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