Copa América Centenario Group A

Group A of the Copa América Centenario consisted of hosts United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay. Matches began on 3 June and ended on 11 June 2016. All times are EDT (UTC−4).

The United States and Colombia advanced to the quarter-finals.

Teams

Draw position Team Confederation Method of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Last
appearance		 Previous best
performance		 FIFA Rankings
December 2015[nb 1] June 2016
A1 (seed)  United States CONCACAF Hosts 4th 2007 Fourth Place (1995) 32 31
A2  Colombia CONMEBOL Automatic qualifier 21st 2015 Winners (2001) 8 3
A3  Costa Rica CONCACAF 2014 Copa Centroamericana champions 5th 2011 Quarter-finals (2001 and 2004) 37 23
A4  Paraguay CONMEBOL Automatic qualifier 36th 2015 Winners (1953 and 1979) 46 44
Notes
  1. ↑ The rankings of December 2015 were used for seeding for the final draw, except for certain cases.

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United States (H) 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Colombia 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3  Costa Rica 3 1 1 1 3 6 −3 4
4  Paraguay 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: CONMEBOL & CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.

In the quarter-finals:

Matches

United States vs Colombia

The two teams had met in seventeen previous encounters, the last being a friendly held in 2014 at Craven Cottage in London, a match won by Colombia 2–1.[1] Both teams had also met in two Copa América editions: the 1995 third-place match, won by Colombia 4–1, and in a group stage match in 2007, also won by Colombia, with a lone goal by Jaime Castrillón.[2]

Colombia won the match 0–2 with first-half goals scored by Cristián Zapata and James Rodríguez.[3] United States' manager Jürgen Klinsmann stated that he was "pleased" with the performance of his team, he also saw the penalty as the "major point of the game",[4] a remark to which American player Clint Dempsey agreed.[5] Colombia's manager José Pekerman recognized the competitiveness of their rivals, but commented that "we could have scored a couple more."[4]

3 June 2016 (2016-06-03)
21:30
United States  0–2  Colombia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)		 C. Zapata  8'
Rodríguez  42' (pen.)

United States
Colombia
GK 1 Brad Guzan
RB 2 DeAndre Yedlin
CB 20Geoff Cameron
CB 6 John Brooks
LB 23Fabian Johnson
CM 11Alejandro Bedoya  57'  86'
CM 4 Michael Bradley (c)
CM 13Jermaine Jones  66'
RF 9 Gyasi Zardes
CF 8 Clint Dempsey
LF 7 Bobby Wood  66'
Substitutions:
FW 17Christian Pulisic  66'
MF 10Darlington Nagbe  66'
MF 19Graham Zusi  86'
Manager:
Germany Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 1 David Ospina
RB 4 Santiago Arias
CB 2 Cristián Zapata
CB 22Jeison Murillo
LB 19Farid Díaz
CM 13Sebastián Pérez  86'
CM 16Daniel Torres
RM 11Juan Guillermo Cuadrado
AM 10James Rodríguez (c)  73'
LM 8 Edwin Cardona
CF 7 Carlos Bacca  88'
Substitutions:
MF 5 Guillermo Celis  73'
MF 6 Carlos Sánchez  86'
FW 17Dayro Moreno  88'
Manager:
Argentina José Pékerman

Man of the Match:[7]
Cristián Zapata (Colombia)

Assistant referees:[8]
José Luis Camargo (Mexico)
Alberto Morín (Mexico)
Fourth official:[8]
Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
Fifth official:[8]
Kléber Lúcio Gil (Brazil)

Costa Rica vs Paraguay

The two teams had met in eight previous occasions, the last being a friendly in the Costa Rican national stadium on March 2015, resulting in a scoreless draw.[9] In Copa América, both teams faced once, in a 2004 group stage match, won by Paraguay with a late penalty kick goal scored by Julio dos Santos.[10]

Just as their previous friendly meeting, the game ended in a scoreless draw.[10] Costa Rican manager Óscar Ramírez commented that it was "a two-faced match" and that "I would say we have lost two points".[11] Paraguay's manager Ramón Díaz also though that his team lost two points; he was also critical of the hour chosen for the game, commenting that "I would like to take the actual protagonists, the players, in consideration".[12]

Costa Rican player Kendall Waston was shown the red card in the stoppage time after a tackle against Nelson Valdez, becoming the first player to be sent-off in the tournament.[13] Regarding the incident, Waston commented, "when I saw the red card I felt the world coming over me, because this tournament is very short and we all want to play".[14]

4 June 2016 (2016-06-04)
17:00
Costa Rica  0–0  Paraguay
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Costa Rica
Paraguay
GK 18Patrick Pemberton
CB 19Kendall Waston Red card 90+4'
CB 2 Johnny Acosta
CB 6 Óscar Duarte
RWB16Cristian Gamboa
LWB22Rónald Matarrita  49'
CM 5 Celso Borges
CM 17Yeltsin Tejeda  1'  59'
AM 10Bryan Ruiz (c)  78'
AM 12Joel Campbell  67'
CF 21Marco Ureña
Substitutions:
MF 14Randall Azofeifa  59'
MF 11Johan Venegas  67'
MF 7 Christian Bolaños  78'
Manager:
Óscar Ramírez
GK 1 Justo Villar (c)
RB 5 Bruno Valdez
CB 3 Gustavo Gómez
CB 14Paulo da Silva
LB 6 Miguel Samudio
RM 10Derlis González  83'  89'
CM 16Celso Ortiz
CM 23Robert Piris Da Motta
LM 21Óscar Romero  70'
CF 7 Jorge Benítez  13'  73'
CF 19Dario Lezcano
Substitutions:
FW 11Édgar Benítez  70'
FW 18Nelson Valdez  79'  73'
FW 15Juan Iturbe  89'
Manager:
Argentina Ramón Díaz

Man of the Match:[16]
Gustavo Gómez (Paraguay)

Assistant referees:[8]
Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina)
Ariel Scime (Argentina)
Fourth official:[8]
Yadel Martínez (Cuba)
Fifth official:[8]
Gustavo Rossi (Argentina)

United States vs Costa Rica

The two teams had met in thirty-three previous occasions, the last being a friendly held at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, won by the Costa Rican side with a lone goal by Joel Campbell. This marked the first time both teams faced each other in a competitive match outside of CONCACAF official competitions. Before the match, the President of the United States Soccer Federarion (USSF) Sunil Gulati was interviewed on the status of USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann, saying, "Results are what matter. Everyone understands that. Results of the last 18 months, overall, haven't been what we would have hoped for. Especially in the official competitions." Many pundits took this to mean that Klinsmann's job was in jeopardy.

USA got off to a flying start, with Bobby Wood drawing a penalty in the 9th minute that was converted by Clint Dempsey. Two other first half goals were scored by Wood and Jermaine Jones, and the scoring was finished by Graham Zusi late in the 2nd half. Zusi's goal would prove crucial in the long run.

7 June 2016 (2016-06-07)
20:00
United States  4–0  Costa Rica
Dempsey  9' (pen.)
Jones  37'
Wood  42'
Zusi  87'		 Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Soldier Field, Chicago
Attendance: 39,642[17]
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (Ecuador)

United States
Costa Rica
GK 1 Brad Guzan
RB 2 DeAndre Yedlin
CB 20Geoff Cameron
CB 6 John Brooks  81'
LB 23Fabian Johnson  44'
CM 11Alejandro Bedoya  83'
CM 4 Michael Bradley (c)
CM 13Jermaine Jones
RW 9 Gyasi Zardes
CF 8 Clint Dempsey  78'
LW 7 Bobby Wood  70'
Substitutions:
MF 19Graham Zusi  70'
FW 18Chris Wondolowski  78'
MF 15Kyle Beckerman  83'
Manager:
Germany Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 18Patrick Pemberton
CB 6 Óscar Duarte
CB 2 Johnny Acosta
CB 3 Francisco Calvo
RWB16Cristian Gamboa  46'
LWB22Rónald Matarrita
DM 5 Celso Borges
RM 7 Christian Bolaños
AM 10Bryan Ruiz (c)
LM 12Joel Campbell  46'
CF 21Marco Ureña  18'
Substitutions:
FW 9 Álvaro Saborío  18'
DF 15José Salvatierra  46'
MF 14Randall Azofeifa  46'
Manager:
Óscar Ramírez

Man of the Match:[18]
Jermaine Jones (United States)

Assistant referees:[8]
Byron Romero (Ecuador)
Luis Vera (Ecuador)
Fourth official:[8]
Jhon Pitti (Panama)
Fifth official:[8]
Gabriel Victoria (Panama)

Colombia vs Paraguay

The two teams had met in forty-two previous occasions, the last being a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match held in Asunción, which the Colombian side won 2–1. In Copa América editions, they have not faced each other since a 2007 Copa América group stage match, won by Paraguay 5–0.

7 June 2016 (2016-06-07)
22:30
Colombia  2–1  Paraguay
Bacca  12'
Rodríguez  30'		 Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)		 Ayala  71'
Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Attendance: 42,766[19]
Referee: Héber Lopes (Brazil)

Colombia
Paraguay
GK 1 David Ospina
RB 4 Santiago Arias
CB 2 Cristián Zapata  90'
CB 22Jeison Murillo  45+4'
LB 19Farid Díaz
CM 13Sebastián Pérez  58'
CM 16Daniel Torres
RM 11Juan Guillermo Cuadrado  87'
AM 10James Rodríguez (c)
LM 8 Edwin Cardona
CF 7 Carlos Bacca
Substitutions:
MF 5 Guillermo Celis  58'
FW 21Marlos Moreno  87'
DF 3 Yerry Mina  90'
Manager:
Argentina José Pékerman
GK 1 Justo Villar (c)
RB 5 Bruno Valdez
CB 3 Gustavo Gómez
CB 14Paulo da Silva
LB 6 Miguel Samudio
RM 21Óscar Romero Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 79', 81'
CM 23Robert Piris Da Motta  46'
CM 16Celso Ortiz
LM 17Miguel Almirón
CF 11Édgar Benítez  46'
CF 19Dario Lezcano  63'  67'
Substitutions:
DF 20Víctor Ayala  46'
FW 7 Jorge Benítez  46'
FW 9 Antonio Sanabria  67'
Manager:
Argentina Ramón Díaz

Man of the Match:[20]
James Rodríguez (Colombia)

Assistant referees:[8]
Kléber Lúcio Gil (Brazil)
Bruno Boschilia (Brazil)
Fourth official:[8]
Julio Bascuñán (Chile)
Fifth official:[8]
Christian Schiemann (Chile)

United States vs Paraguay

The two teams had met in six previous occasions, the last being a friendly held at LP Field in 2011, won by Paraguay with a lone goal by Óscar Cardozo. In Copa América, they have faced once, a Paraguayan 3–1 victory in a 2007 group stage match. USA scored first, once again from Clint Dempsey on a cross from Gyasi Zardes. It would be the only goal of the game, but USA would not win without difficulty.

Early in the second half, DeAndre Yedlin was sent off following two yellow cards in quick succession, giving Paraguay a man advantage for almost 40 minutes. However, the United States defence held firm, mostly due to the efforts of John Brooks and Geoff Cameron. Following a shock victory by Costa Rica over Colombia, the United States ended up winning Group A.

11 June 2016 (2016-06-11)
19:00
United States  1–0  Paraguay
Dempsey  27' Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

United States
Paraguay
GK 1 Brad Guzan
RB 2 DeAndre Yedlin Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 46', 47'
CB 20Geoff Cameron
CB 6 John Brooks
LB 23Fabian Johnson
CM 11Alejandro Bedoya  74'
CM 4 Michael Bradley (c)  58'
CM 13Jermaine Jones  87'
RW 9 Gyasi Zardes
CF 8 Clint Dempsey  49'
LW 7 Bobby Wood  71'  85'
Substitutions:
DF 14Michael Orozco  78'  49'
MF 19Graham Zusi  74'
MF 15Kyle Beckerman  85'
Manager:
Germany Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 1 Justo Villar (c)
RB 14Paulo da Silva
CB 3 Gustavo Gómez
CB 2 Fabián Balbuena  45'
LB 6 Miguel Samudio
RM 10Derlis González
CM 20Víctor Ayala  81'
CM 16Celso Ortiz  12'  54'
LM 17Miguel Almirón
CF 9 Antonio Sanabria  62'
CF 19Dario Lezcano
Substitutions:
FW 15Juan Iturbe  45'
MF 8 Juan Rodrigo Rojas  70'  54'
FW 7 Jorge Benítez  62'
Manager:
Argentina Ramón Díaz

Man of the Match:[22]
John Brooks (United States)

Assistant referees:[8]
Carlos Astroza (Chile)
Christian Schiemann (Chile)
Fourth official:[8]
Jhon Pitti (Panama)
Fifth official:[8]
Gabriel Victoria (Panama)

Colombia vs Costa Rica

The two teams had met in eleven previous occasions, the last being a friendly held at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona in Buenos Aires in 2015, won by Colombia with a lone goal by Radamel Falcao. In Copa América, they have faced three times, with Colombia emerging victorious in every single occasion, including the last in 2011, with a goal scored by Adrián Ramos.

11 June 2016 (2016-06-11)
21:00
Colombia  2–3  Costa Rica
Fabra  6'
M. Moreno  73'		 Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)		 Venegas  2'
Fabra  34' (o.g.)
Borges  58'
NRG Stadium, Houston
Attendance: 45,808[23]
Referee: José Argote (Venezuela)

Colombia
Costa Rica
GK 12Róbinson Zapata
RB 15Stefan Medina
CB 14Felipe Aguilar  66'
CB 3 Yerry Mina
LB 18Frank Fabra
CM 5 Guillermo Celis
CM 6 Carlos Sánchez (c)
CM 13Sebastián Pérez  46'
RW 17Dayro Moreno  46'
CF 9 Roger Martínez  41'
LW 21Marlos Moreno
Substitutions:
MF 8 Edwin Cardona  46'
MF 10James Rodríguez  46'
MF 11Juan Guillermo Cuadrado  66'
Manager:
Argentina José Pékerman
GK 18Patrick Pemberton  83'
CB 19Kendall Waston  87'
CB 2 Johnny Acosta
CB 3 Francisco Calvo
RWB15José Salvatierra  46'
LWB22Rónald Matarrita
CM 14Randall Azofeifa  44'
CM 5 Celso Borges  77'
RW 7 Christian Bolaños
LW 10Bryan Ruiz (c)  78'
CF 11Johan Venegas
Substitutions:
DF 8 Bryan Oviedo  46'
MF 17Yeltsin Tejeda  77'
FW 12Joel Campbell  90+2'  78'
Manager:
Óscar Ramírez

Man of the Match:[24]
Celso Borges (Costa Rica)

Assistant referees:[8]
Luis Sánchez (Venezuela)
Luis Murillo (Venezuela)
Fourth official:[8]
Daniel Fedorczuk (Uruguay)
Fifth official:[8]
Christian Ramírez (Honduras)

References

  1. ↑ Burns, John (14 November 2014). "Amid Little Fanfare, Americans Lose in London". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Falls to Colombia, 1-0, in the Group C Final at Copa America 2007 in Venezuela". USSoccer.com. United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Lutz, Tom (4 June 2016). "USA beaten in Copa América opener as classy Colombia show them the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 Godfrey, John (4 June 2016). "Is Jurgen Klinsmann in Denial Over Colombia Loss?". American Soccer Now. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Keh, Andrew (4 June 2016). "Jurgen Klinsmann Brushes Off Opening Loss for U.S. Team in Copa América". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Colombia opens the Copa America Centenario with win over the US". CONMEBOL. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Match 1 : USA vs Colombia". Copa América Centenario. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Referee Assignments for Copa America Centenario Matches". Copa América Centenario. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  9. ↑ Altamirano, Patricio (26 March 2015). "Selección de Costa Rica fue pura entrega en deslucido empate ante Paraguay". La Nación. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Costa Rica empató 0-0 ante Paraguay en Orlando por Copa América". El Comercio. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Óscar Ramírez cree que Costa Rica perdió dos puntos con Paraguay". Marca (in Spanish). 5 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ramon Díaz, contra la prensa paraguaya: "Con mi experiencia sé cómo hay que llevar a los jóvenes"". La Nación (in Spanish). 4 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "VIDEO: Kendall Waston, el primer expulsado de la Copa América Centenario". Diario Diez (in Spanish). 4 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Zárate Sánchez, Andrés (6 June 2016). "Tarjeta roja no deja dormir a Waston". Diario Extra (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Costa Rica, Paraguay draw 0–0 in Copa America; Waston sent off". Sports Illustrated. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Match 2 : Costa Rica vs Paraguay". Copa América Centenario. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "Back from the brink: USA 4 Costa Rica 0". CONMEBOL. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Match 9 : United States vs Costa Rica". Copa América Centenario. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "Colombia defeats Paraguay, first to qualify". CONMEBOL. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Match 10 : Colombia vs Paraguay". Copa América Centenario. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  21. ↑ Narducci, Marc (11 June 2016). "United States beats Paraguay 1-0 at Linc to advance in Copa America". Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Match 17 : United States vs Paraguay". Copa América Centenario. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  23. ↑ "Pékerman jugó con fuego y Colombia se quemó" [Pékerman played with fire and Colombia got burned] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  24. ↑ "Match 18 : Colombia vs Costa Rica". Copa América Centenario. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.

External links

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