Canada hopes to create history by finishing in third place in the Copa America 2024, but it will have to overcome Uruguay on Saturday at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The two sides find themselves on the two ends of a spectrum: Canada had entered the semifinals as the lowest scoring team amongst the top four, while Uruguay had entered as the highest scoring sides.
In the third place match, there will be various on field battles that can impact the final outcome of the game. Here are some of them:
Alphonso Davies-Facundo Pellistri
It will be a battle of fast legs and silky feet when Canada skipper Alphonso Davies comes up against Uruguayan youngster Facundo Pellistri on La Celeste’s right flank.
While Davies hasn’t been going on his penetrating runs up as often as he is known to in this tournament, it would mean that the left-back would be back and present to ward off the ease with which Pellistri is known to skip past his man and whip in a cross or two inside the opposition box.
Federico Valverde-Jacob Shaffelburg
Shaffelburg remains as Canada’s one of two goalscorers in the Copa America 2024. The Les Rogues have scored just two goals in regulation time, the second of which came against Venezuela in the quarterfinal was netted by the midfielder. Interestingly, Shaffelburg had assisted the first goal during his side’s 1-0 over Peru in the group stage.
In the Uruguayan midfield, Valverde has been mostly tasked with doing the dirty work and racking up tackles to keep any threats at bay which crop up in the middle of the park. On Saturday, Shaffelburg, who usually operates on the left channel, will be on Valverde’s radar.
Moise Bombito-Darwin Nunez
Centre-back Bombito tops the charts in two aspects of the game. In the Copa America 2024 so far, he has the most number of clearances (31) and is one of eight players who have a 100 per cent record of tackling dribblers.
This shows that for Uruguayan forward Nunez, who has been poor in front of the goal with getting only five shots on target despite being the players with most number of shots (20), it will be a tough outing against the Canadian defender.
(Stats taken from FBREF)
