Uruguay and Japan came out on the opposite ends of 4-0 results in their opening matches. The South Americans are out to claim a clear lead at the top of Group C. Oscar Tabarez’s men hammered Ecuador in their opener on Sunday, while Japan were subject to a Chile masterclass. Matchday 2 will establish a better idea of who’s likely to advance.
Copa America: Uruguay vs Japan
- Date: Thursday, June 20
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: Telemundo
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
Uruguay and Chile sit level at the Group C summit and La Celeste need to keep up their winning start if they’re to maintain pace in the hunt to finish first. Star men Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani were each on the scoresheet in the thrashing of Ecuador and will be hoping to add to their accounts against another side that’s just conceded four goals.
La Celeste have won the Copa America a record 15 times, but Japan are making just their second appearance in the competition. The Samurai Blue first participated in the 1999 tournament when they lost twice and drew once. Beating Group C co-leaders Uruguay would be timely to clinch their first, but their youthful squad—18 of their 23 players are 22 or younger—didn’t stand up well to the test on Matchday 1. The youngest among them is Takefusa Kubo, the 18-year-old striker who recently joined Real Madrid from FC Tokyo and played the full 90 minutes against Chile.
Uruguay has vital wisdom among their lineup and Japan could struggle to break down a defense that comprises Atletico Madrid centre-back duo Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez.
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