(Getty)
Argentina breezed through Group D play, and they’re the favorite in the penultimate quarterfinal matchup saturday night against Venezuela. While La Albiceleste were expected to dominate, Venezuela were a surprise coming out of Group C ahead of Uruguay and Jamaica.
Argentina finished group play with a +9 goal differential, and that’s with most of their star power inactive. Messi has only played two halves in three games, but did record a hat trick in 19 minutes against Panama. He’s hoping to start in the quarterfinals, and he’s hoping Angel Di Maria will be there as well. The PSG winger left the opener early with an adductor injury, and didn’t play in the team’s finale against Bolivia.
For Venezuela, expect to see them back off and buckle down for 90 minutes. The side only allowed one goal in the group stage, and that was a late desperation goal from Mexico. That’s 260 scoreless minutes in the group stage without conceding. Argentina have the firepower to overwhelm their opponents, but Venezuela are crafty on the counter and have proven they can lock down defensively.
Here’s the details for the match:
DATE: Saturday, June 17, 2016
CHANNEL: Fox Sports 1
KICKOFF TIME: 7:00 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
LIVE STREAM: Click here for all the live stream information
THE LINEUPS
Lineups will be posted as soon as they are released.
Argentina:
Argentina XI: Romero, Rojo, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Mercado, Fernandez, Mascherano, Banega, Gaitan, Higuain, Messi. #CopaAmerica
Venezuela:
XI Venezuela: Dani Hernandez; Alex G, Ángel, Vizcarrondo, Rolf; Rincón, Figuera; Guerra, Peñaranda; Josef y Rondón.
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Argentina vs. Venezuela: Time, Channel & Lineup Copa America Quarterfinal