Copa America 2016 Group D Preview, Predictions: Lionel Messi's Argentina to Fight Chile for Top Spot
Of all the Groups in the Copa America 2016, none has less drama than Group D mainly because the biggest piece of drama in the group gets taken care of right off the bat.
The Match
Chile and Argentina will likely battle for the top spot in this group with Bolivia and Panama sitting around playing for the third spot.
But Chile and Argentina's matchup, a rematch of last year's Copa America final, will be the first game of the group and in all likelihood will determine which side wins the group.
What should make this interesting is that champions have seen themselves demolished in the first rematch with the runner-up of major tournaments. Spain suffered a 5-1 demolition to the Dutch in the World Cup 2010 rematch. Argentina handed Germany a 4-2 win in a friendly rematch last year.
Argentina, which is probably the best group in the entire tournament, is likely looking for major revenge against Chile for the shootout defeat last summer. Lionel Messi leads the line of course but he will have the help of Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Lucas Biglia and Erik Lamela. Defense remains Argentina's Achilles heal, but the offense could easily get rid of that deficiency. Of course Argentina's offense has sputtered in recent tournaments, making this year's edition all the more interesting.
Chile meanwhile brings much of the squad that led it all the way to glory at home. The defending champs will look to Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal to make a huge difference.
Best Player in the Group
If Lionel Messi gets to play in this tournament, which he likely will, then he is simply better than anyone else in this entire Copa America. Throw in his desire to finally win a major tournament in Argentina's colors and you have a player fueled to add another major statement in his legacy. Messi has been solid in the last two major tournaments, scoring four in Brazil at the World Cup and then putting on a clinic last year in Chile to lead Argentina in the final. The wildcard here could be exhaustion; since 2014, Messi has not had a summer off and has played deep into June with minimal rest. Injuries could end his tournament early if his minutes are not well managed.
Schedule
June 6
Panama vs. Bolivia
Argentina vs. Chile
June 10
Chile vs. Bolivia
Argentina vs. Panama
June 14
Chile vs. Panama
Argentina vs. Bolivia
Predictions
As noted above, this is easily the easiest group to predict with Argentina and Chile simply miles ahead of the other two teams in this competition. Look for that opening group game to decide the winner of Group D.
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