Brazil's Neymar (L) and Colombia's James Rodriguez (Photo : Reuters)
Neymar and the Brazilians are set to battle James Rodriguez and the Colombians in a second round match of the 2015 Copa America at the Estadio Monumental David Arellano in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday, June 17.
Brazil will ride on the momentum of its 2-1 victory over Peru last Sunday and will hope to carry it over against Colombia. It was the 11th straight win for the Seleção boys with Coach Dunga dating back to their warmups for the Copa, according to SkySports.
Meanwhile, Los Cafeteros suffered a major setback by losing to lowly Venezuela, 0-1, during their opener in Rancagua on the same day. One of the favorites entering this summer's tourney, José Pékerman's squad played lackadaisically against La Vinotinto and will now have to overcome an uphill task just to qualify for the quarterfinals.
For the fans, a major attraction in this contest is the matchup between Brazil captain and Barça winger Neymar and Colombia and Real Madrid attacking midfielder James Rodriguez. Both 23-year-olds are considered as the top young guns and two of the best football players in the world today.
Head-to-head and on paper, Colombia seems to be looking stronger than Brazil especially with the absence of key playmaker Oscar due to injury, as per Goal. Neymar will need his teammates to step up so as to ease the pressure off his shoulders.
The scoring group of team captain Radamel Falcao, forward Carlos Bacca, Chelsea's Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Porto's Jackson Martinez, and Rodriguez is arguably the best offensive lineup in this year's competitions, next to Argentina. But as what the game against Venezuela showed, anything can happen at the Copa.
The prediction is a high-scoring 4-3 Brazil conquest of Colombia. Neymar will lift Canarinho over Los Cafeteros following a highly entertaining battle.
