Copa America 2021: What you need to know Tournament will be hosted- Brazil which reported the second

Brazil and Venezuela are scheduled to kick off the Copa America at the Mane Garrincha Stadium on Sunday evening in the capital, Brasilia.
The tournament, postponed from last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, was confirmed to take place in Brazil just two weeks ago.
However, the decision to award hosting rights to Brazil did not go down well with the national side as well as the locals.
As of Sunday, Brazil had reported more than 17.3 million cases of the coronavirus, including at least 486,000 deaths, the second-highest number in the world.

How did the tournament come to Brazil?
Colombia and Argentina were scheduled to host the tournament last year but it was postponed due to the pandemic.

Last month, Colombia was dropped amid a wave of protests against President Ivan Duque while Argentina was ruled out due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Why is the national side not happy?
Brazil’s national football team reluctantly agreed to play in the Copa America despite concerns over the late decision to stage the continental tournament in its home country.

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Brazilian players used social media to publish a message saying they are “unsatisfied” with South American football’s governing body, CONMEBOL, which decided to move the tournament to Brazil.

They said they did not want to make the organisation of Copa America a political debate, though.

“We are against organizing the Copa America, but we will never say no to the Brazilian national team,” the players said in a joint statement.

Brazil’s head coach lashed out at Copa America on Friday, saying the players and officials had informed the national football federation of their reluctance to play before the decision was made to move it to Brazil.

Is the Brazilian public in favour of the tournament?
On Thursday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled the country can host the Copa America despite the coronavirus pandemic.

In an extraordinary virtual session, a majority of the high court’s 11 justices decided against plaintiffs who argued the South American championships posed an unacceptable health risk.

However, a poll showed on Friday that nearly two-thirds of Brazilians oppose the country hosting the event amid concerns over the country’s dire COVID-19 outbreak.

According to an XP/Ipespe poll, 64 percent of respondents were against hosting the cup, while 29 percent were in favour.

The poll was based on 1,000 interviews, conducted from June 7 to 10.

Have any players tested positive?
Eight Venezuelans and three Bolivian players tested positive ahead of the tournament kick-off.

Venezuela, which plays the opener of the tournament on Sunday against the hosts, has summoned 15 new players for its squad. Three members of its coaching staff were also infected.

Bolivia’s first match in the tournament will be on Monday against Paraguay.

South American soccer body CONMEBOL stressed in a statement that “the matches will be played as scheduled”.

What are the key dates?
The opening game of the tournament takes place on June 13. The knockout phase starts from July 3 with the first of the quarter-finals.

The final of the tournament will take place on July 11.

How many teams are taking part?
This tournament was originally scheduled to feature 12 teams – 10 members of South America’s football confederation with Qatar and Australia invited as guest nations.

However, Qatar and Australia pulled out due to a clash of fixtures given the rearranged World Cup 2022 qualifiers leaving the rescheduled tournament with 10 teams.

Group A: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Group B: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

What is the tournament format?
The top four sides from each group will go through to the quarter-finals after the completion of the round matches.

Copa America 2021 Betting Odds, Analysis and Expert Tips
The Copa America returns this weekend with Brazil vs Venezuela opening the tournament in Brasilia. Like with Euro 2020, the build-up has been chaotic with the destination of the competition being diverted from Colombia and Argentina to Brazil on May 31.

Brazil will be confident in retaining their Copa America title which they claimed in 2019 after beating Peru 3-1. Lionel Messi's Argentina will be looking for their first Copa since 1993, an unfathomable amount of time considering the talent they've had at their disposal over the past 10 years. Colombia, Uruguay and Chile come into the tournament in inconsistent form of late but are hoping to save their best performances over June and July.

The competition gets underway on Sunday evening—and we have previewed the month-long tournament, with odds from leading oddsmaker Betway, who are owned by Super Group.

Outright Winner
Given they've recently taken on the mantle of hosts, Brazil (11/10) are unsurprisingly Betway's favourite. Head Coach Tite's side comes into the tournament with seven wins in a row, making them by far the most in form team.

Brazil have history in their favor too given they have hosted the Copa America five times and won it on every occasion it's been on home soil. Chelsea's Thiago Silva captains the side and will be looking to exert the same influence that helped the Blues win the Champions League in May. Neymar will be the main focus once again but they didn't need him two years ago as he missed the 2019 edition through injury.

Argentina (5/2) continue to be a top heavy side with the likes of Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero in attacking positions but are still relying on an ageing Nicolas Otamendi in defence.

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Colombia (15/2) and will be emboldened by a draw in Baranquilla on June 9th against Argentina in which they came from 2-0 down to rescue a point. They are without Everton's James Rodriquez who misses the competition through injury.

Uruguay (8/1) and Chile (12/1) are good bets but lack the momentum or conviction they've had in previous tournaments. Ecuador could be dark horses (33/1) given their current third place position in the 2022 World Cup qualification table behind Brazil and Argentina but saw their odds lengthen due to defeats by Brazil and Peru over June.

Peru and Paraguay are also priced at 33/1 with Peru looking to build on their success from two years ago when they destroyed Chile in the semi-final only to be beaten by Brazil at the final hurdle. Lastly Venezuela and Bolivia make up the weakest sides of the tournament, with odds at 40/1 and 150/1 respectively.

Brazil superstar Neymar scored once and assisted another to help his side to a 3-0 victory over Venezuela in Brasilia, with his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Marquinhos and Gabriel Barbosa grabbing the other goals.
The Venezuela team and coaching staff have been decimated by Covid-19 positive cases on the eve on the tournament, with 12 of their players and coaching staff returning positive tests just a day before the opening game of the tournament.
And the hosts of the tournament showed their dominance from the get-go. Everton forward Richarlison had a first-half goal disallowed for offside and Neymar missed a good chance as Brazil failed to convert its dominance.

But Marquinhos' bundled 23rd minute goal from a corner set it on its way, with Neymar scoring his 67th international goal -- just 10 behind Pele's record tally of 77 goals for Brazil -- from the penalty spot.
He was also pivotal in the final goal, rounding Venezuela goalkeeper Joel Graterol before squaring to substitute Barbosa to complete the victory.
It gave the nine-time Copa América winners the perfect start to Group A, which also includes Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Colombia won its opening game on Sunday night, beating Ecuador 1-0 thanks to a Edwin Cardona strike.

Expressing concerns
The 47th edition of the Copa América was originally to be joint-hosted by Argentina and Colombia, but organizers decided to pull it first from Colombia, due to the country's widespread social unrest, and then also from Argentina, due to a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro came to the rescue though and boasted the country would see the tournament through, despite widespread opposition and the country's struggle to contain the pandemic.
Just two days before the start of the tournament, the Brazilian national team -- the Seleção -- announced its willingness to participate, despite having voiced its open opposition to the tournament in a rare public statement.
According to the World Health Organization, the country has recorded more than 17 million confirmed cases and more than 480,000 deaths. More than 70 million vaccine doses have been administered.
As well as the Venezuelan players and officials testing positive, four members of the Bolivian team also tested positive for coronavirus.
And now, Argentina and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has expressed concerns about contracting the virus while with his national team.

Messi, whose Argentina side will face Chile in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, said the fear of contracting the virus was widespread in the squad.
"It worries us because it is a risk for everyone catching Covid," he told reporters. "We try to be careful but it's not easy. These things happen."
"We'll try to do all we can so no one gets it but sometimes it doesn't depend solely on ourselves."

Brazil superstar Neymar scored once and assisted another to help his side to a 3-0 victory over Venezuela in Brasilia, with his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Marquinhos and Gabriel Barbosa grabbing the other goals.
The Venezuela team and coaching staff have been decimated by Covid-19 positive cases on the eve on the tournament, with 12 of their players and coaching staff returning positive tests just a day before the opening game of the tournament.
And the hosts of the tournament showed their dominance from the get-go. Everton forward Richarlison had a first-half goal disallowed for offside and Neymar missed a good chance as Brazil failed to convert its dominance.

But Marquinhos' bundled 23rd minute goal from a corner set it on its way, with Neymar scoring his 67th international goal -- just 10 behind Pele's record tally of 77 goals for Brazil -- from the penalty spot.
He was also pivotal in the final goal, rounding Venezuel