Peru vs. Bolivia today: Copa America quarter-final preview and TV times

Peru vs. Bolivia: Copa America quarter-final preview and TV times

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Matt Jones

For all the glamor that accompanies the Copa America, one of the most enjoyable facets of the tournament’s crazy set up is how it enhances the possibility for less illustrious sides to put together a prosperous run. This quarter-final clash between Peru and Bolivia is testament to that.

The former split group winners Brazil and an underwhelming Colombia in the group stages to finish second, acquitting themselves well in matches against the aforementioned sides as well as Venezuela.

But Bolivia’s appearance in the last eight really represents the biggest shock of the tournament to date; La Verde’s 3-2 victory over Ecuador was their first competitive win on foreign soil in 20 years, after all.

With a semi-final spot up for grabs, both sides have the chance to further exceed expectations with a victory. Perhaps, with Brazil, Colombia and Argentina all in the other half of the draw, these nations may even be dreaming of a final appearance too.

It makes this quarter-final showdown in Temuco, even though it may not command the same gravitas as some of the knockout encounters, an intriguing one. Here’s a comprehensive look at some of the key factors to consider ahead of Thursday’s match.

TV schedule for viewers in the United States:

Peru vs. Bolivia, 7:30pm ET kickoff time (pre-game starts at 6:30pm ET) — exclusively on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Espańol.

Programming note: In the United States, beIN SPORTS has the exclusive English-language and Spanish-language rights to the tournament. If your cable or satellite provider doesn’t offer beIN SPORTS, or you want to watch the games on your computer, mobile phone, tablet or Roku, sign up for a free trial to fuboTV to watch the games. And if you like what you see, fuboTV is just $6.99 per month. It’s completely legal and features HD-quality streams, but is only available to soccer fans in the United States.

Peru Expected to Progress

In the group stages, Peru seemed to relish the mantle of being underdogs. While they were unable to beat Brazil or Colombia, they sprung out of the blocks to catch the latter off guard—only losing to a last minute Douglas Costa goal—before expertly nullifying Colombia’s array of attacking talent in their final group game, booking their spot in the knockout stages.

It’s peculiar that Ricardo Gareca’s side now find themselves as overwhelming favorites in a match with the tournament whittled down to just eight teams. For a side that enjoys soaking up pressure and counter-attacking, that shift in dynamic is a stylistic challenge they’ll have to overcome.

As such, the onus will now be on the attacking players in this squad to step out from the defenders’ shadow. Veteran striker Claudio Pizarro is a clinical finisher still, but he’s reliant on service from the Peru midfield, as well as forward partner Paolo Guerrero, to showcase those goalscoring instincts effectively.

Encouragingly for La Blanquirroja, star winger Jefferson Farfan, who has been struggling with allergy problems at the tournament so far, is likely to return to the starting XI for this one after being benched against Colombia. It’ll be up to him and midfield maestro Christian Cueva to add to sparkle to Peru’s bursts forward.

It’s also worth remembering that although a semi-final appearance would vastly exceed expectations for Gareca’s team, a lot of this squad were in situ when Peru finished third at the tournament four years ago. Indeed, there’s definite pedigree in the group, but much will depend on how they cope mentally with being big favorites to triumph.