Colombia will be very motivated you feel after impressing everyone at the 2014 World cup and then believing their own press and disappointing big time at last year's Copa America, if we compare them man for man with the US squad, this looks a bit of a mismatch , but in contrast to Argentina ( see above), the US squad is ALWAYS greater than the sum of it's parts and are rarely found wanting in terms of tactics and work rate. Having said that, I doubt more than 2-3 of the home group would make even consideration for the Colombia squad and in James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado the away team have the two star performers on show and both will be looking to impress after (relatively )poor domestic campaigns. I am a little worried about goals for the hosts, in the absence of injured Jozy Altidore, they are left with veteran front men Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondowlowski to pick up the slack, Dempsey has been prolific for his nation, but has come up short in his last six starts against "name" teams and whilst I big up Wondo on a regular basis for Earthquakes, he has never been a real international striker,seven of his ten goals have come in four starts against Belize, Cuba and Guatemala, just 3 in 27 appearances otherwise. Gyasi Zardes might step up and did score twice against Bolivia, but the same applies and they need him to do something he has not really done before at this kind of level, so a lot of pressure on Dempsey to perform IMO. He tends to drop back in any case to look for space and I expect a disciplined and fairly defensive showing from the hosts, so many draws on opening day in major tournaments, that looks a result both would be reasonably happy with and I think the best value is with the stalemate.
 

Colombia won 2-0 scoring twice from set pieces, the first goal coming early, which allowed the South Americans to dictate the tempo and how the match was going to be played, the US had plenty of possession, but Dempsey was indeed dropping too deep and he was not getting the help he required, with team mates too busy trying to contain, what it has to be said, were superior players. I still think it was an odd and wrong decision to open in Santa Clara and concerns still remain about their strikers. Having said that, today they will be in Chicago, at Soldier Field, a far more familar venue and one where they have a perfect record, winning 4 from 4. They have been working hard at defending set pieces in the interim and I have reason to believe that the referee tonight will not be as strict as the Mexican official was at the weekend, where he was giving very precise instructions to the home defenders on how they could defend, on reflection, having Mexican officials was another odd choice for that game.

The US will come into this game having had 24 ( ok, 20 !) hours longer recovery time, which meant a full day's extra training and will be facing an opponent they are far more familiar with today and whilst their record in Costa Rica is poor, the hosts are unbeaten in 15 h2h competitive meetings on home soil and are very familiar with the 5-4-1 formation they will face. Also, Costa Rica will be without suspended right sided defender Kendall Watson, this is a big loss IMO, that will mean a lot of reponsibility on that flank on WBA defender Cristian Gamboa , who only saw 27 minutes of EPL game time this season and 233 last and he tends to too often go missing and is vulnerable if you can isolate him and without Watson, that seems far more likely to happen. Jermaine Jones will surely be able to venture further forward on that side today with no Cuadrado to track , especially as Joel Campbell will have to help out Gamboa. The US have won all four games in Chicago by a single goal and their two most recent home wins over CR have been by one goal and I can see them also edging this by the minimum margin.
 

I think the US to win by exactly one goal at circa 3.25-3.40 is the best pre match value, but ahead of the Costa Rica opener with Paraguay I spoke about how the Central Americans approach games ...........

Colombia got off to a flyer and an early lead yesterday, but I would not expect too much of an adveturous approach from these two. Neither will want to lose their opener and both have a defensive attitude, especially early in games. Costa Rica were happy to absorb pressure in the 2014 World Cup and let opponents make the running, they scored just one goal inside the open 44 minutes and had a similar approach at last year's CONCACAF Gold Cup when they drew all four games, with three scoreless at the break. They have not changed much in terms of personnel or formation and will play with a five man backline and lone striker. Paraguay will play with two holding midfielders and are another team who like to set up with a defensive mindset and play themselves into games.They opened their Copa campaign last year with four draws and whilst they have lost just one of six World Cup qualifiers, they did not score a goal inside an hour in their first four starts. The two played out a very dour 0-0 draw in a friendly game in March last year, when defences ruled and neither team had a chance of note inside the penalty area. Paraguay have finished second and fourth in the last two Copas, despite winning just one match inside 90 minutes, with both team very aware that you can go deep in tournaments without winning and that a point will give them an early edge over the home nation, a draw would certainly not surprise and looks the best option.

 

They will again be looking to keep this as tight as possible early and to quieten the home crowd, the US will also be wary of conceding early like they did in Santa Clara and whilst they scored eight goals in winning their three build up games, they did not score before the 21st minute in any and holding out for a better quote is also an option. USA -0.5 ball as soon as the "in running" quote reaches 2.05 as long as they are not already leading and we are still playing 11 v 11, either of the two options are good and I would suggest 1.5 units whichever one you prefer.