Copa Dope - Group B Roundup

Mexico and breakout star Nery Castillo were nowhere near as impressive as they were against Brazil, but the result remained the same. The win confirms Mexico as the first team to qualify for the knockout stages of the Copa America and they will win their group outright with either a win or draw on the final matchday. Ecuador is virtually guaranteed to be out of the competition after failing to gain a point in their first two matches, which is a bit of a shame as they controlled much of the game against Mexico with a fast, athletic style of play, but surrendered goals through defensive lapses and counterattacks.

In the other match, 3-0 will flatter the Brazilians terribly as they took a first half lead through a penalty that was questionable to put it mildly. Robinho netted two pretty goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick and seal the victory, but they were scored very late. Brazil just hasn't looked terribly impressive yet in this tournament, similar to the type of form they displayed in Germany last year. True, they are missing a lot of star-power, but isn't it always bandied about that Brazil has such a depth of talent that they could field 2-3 world class sides pretty easily? It will be interesting to see what happens when they face an Ecuador side with the pressure off just looking for a bit of pride, while the samba boys will need a decent result to advance.

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