Copa America draw - US gets a tough group

If the main idea of the US playing in the Copa America this summer was to see them face some difficult teams, well the wish has been granted. The US men have been drawn into Group C where they will face Argentina (28 June), Paraguay (2 July) and Colombia (5 July).

This is some serious competition for the red, white and blue and it will be very difficult for them to get out of their group. That said, it is not impossible. A reminder that the top two teams from the three groups advance as do the two best third place teams. Much like Germany, a lot will probably come down to how they perform in their opening match. If they can force a tie or pull off a shock victory, they will be well positioned, however, if they sink hard, it will be difficult to rise again.

The US has played Argentina 7 times with a record of 2 wins and 5 defeats, but one of those wins was a 3-0 victory in the 1995 Copa. They have come up against Colombia 14 times and have won3, lost 8 and tied 3. Paraguay is the only team in the group that has never beat the US as America has won 2 and tied 2 against them.

By the way, if the US makes it to the final game of the Gold Cup (6-24 June), they will have just four days to get to Venezuela and prepare for the match against Argentina. However, there is a good chance that Bob Bradley (or whomever is coaching in June) will have a number of different players in the two tournaments.

If Mexico is in the Gold Cup final, they will only have three days as they open against Brazil on June 27.

In the other groups, A has host Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia while B has champions Brazil, Ecuador, Chile and Mexico.

We all wanted the US to have more challenges and I'm happy to see it happening.

Ticket information has not beeen released.