The United States Men’s National Team took care of business in its opening match of Copa America.
The Yanks got ahead of Bolivia early, added to the lead and shut things down from there en route to a 2-0 victory.
The Stars & Stripes now set their sights on punching their ticket to the quarterfinals with a win over Panama on Thursday evening.
As expected, the USMNT is a prohibitive favorite to beat Panama.
The Americans are sitting at -275 on the three-way moneyline at the time of writing and Panama is all the way out at +775.
And while there’s no denying the Yanks should be a considerable favorite, these odds do seem a bit wide for a match that should be pretty competitive.
Although they lost, 3-1, to Uruguay in their opening match, the Panamanians really came alive in the second half of that match and not only were able to cope with Uruguay’s talent and manic pressing, but started to put the pressure on their opponents.
Adding to the concern that this could be a trap game for the Americans is that Panama will be very familiar with the USMNT.
Unlike Bolivia, which play in CONMEBOL and rarely make it into major international tournaments, the Canal Men see the Yanks quite often in CONCACAF competitions and will be comfortable going up against them on the road.
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The USMNT should have enough to get this over the line, but these odds underrate Panama’s chances.
This could be a back-and-forth contest with both teams desperate for a victory.
THE PLAY: Both teams to score — Yes (+130, DraftKings).