Morning Coffee: Canada opens as a small underdog against Venezuela at Copa America

Canada was considered the least likely contender among the three North American countries at Copa America.

Instead, the Canadian Men’s National Team advanced as the continent’s lone representative in the knockout stage.

The USA and Mexico were among the top seven choices to win Copa America at the start of the tournament.

Both squads were eliminated in the group stage.

The biggest surprise is an American side that was viewed as a top-five choice to win Copa America at +1400.

They needed wins over Bolivia and Panama to advance.

After a 2-0 win over Bolivia in their opening match, the USA stumbled with back-to-back losses to Panama and Uruguay to finish in third place in Group C.

The United States is the first host nation in Copa America history to be eliminated before the knockout stage.

Meanwhile, Canada’s odds to win Copa America have been cut from 90-to-1 to 43-to-1 at FanDuel after they followed the tournament favourite Argentina as the two teams to qualify for the knockout stage from Group A.

Canada remains a longshot to win the tournament.

Only Panama and Costa Rica have longer odds to win it.

However, the Canadian Men’s National Team could benefit from a favourable draw with a showdown versus Venezuela up next in the knockout stage.

Venezuela is -130 to qualify for the next round.

FanDuel has Canada at nearly even-money to advance.

Canada’s presence as the sole North American representative in the Copa America knockout stage is a result nobody would have predicted before the start of the tournament.

Now, the Canadian Men’s National Team has a legitimate chance to reach the semi-finals as the continent’s last remaining hope to win Copa America.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday July 2nd, 2024.

A FanDuel Best Bet To Consider For Busy Tuesday Slate

We were treated to a phenomenal Canada Day lineup on TSN, featuring Free Agent Frenzy, Wimbledon, Euro 2024, and Copa America.

According to CapFriendly, all the NHL signings on July 1st combined for a total of over $1 billion.

The Nashville Predators overhauled their roster with the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.

That trio will combine for $20.5 million per year in cap hits for the next four seasons.

As of 5:30 PM ET on Monday, every team except the Anaheim Ducks had signed at least one player.

That includes the Montreal Canadiens giving their 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky an eight-year, $60.8 million deal.

Per Spotrac, it’s the fifth-largest contract ever signed by an active NHL player that is 20 years old or younger.

With the first day of NHL free agency in the books and Wimbledon just getting underway, the summer of soccer on TSN will command the spotlight with three key matches across Copa America and Euro 2024.

Tonight, Brazil and Colombia will clash in a group stage finale that will determine the winner of Group D.

Colombia, which has been the most popular choice to win Copa America at FanDuel, currently leads Group D with six points.

However, Brazil is the favourite to win tonight’s match and the favourite to win Group D as they can leapfrog Colombia in the standings with a win.

Meanwhile, we’ll also see the final two Round of 16 matches at Euro 2024 this afternoon.

The Netherlands is a heavy favourite to advance at -590 versus Romania.

Austria is a -235 favourite to advance versus Turkey.

Will we see another upset at Euro 2024?

Turkey is +186 to advance.

Romania is a major long shot at +410.

Favourites are 5-1 to advance so far in the Euro 2024 Round of 16 with Switzerland pulling off the lone upset as a small underdog versus Italy.

Each of the top five pre-tournament choices to win Euro 2024 – England, Spain, Germany, France, and Portugal – have already booked their tickets to the quarterfinals.

As for a FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday, I’m going to shake it up a bit with a cross-sport Same Game Parlay +.

I’ll pair the Netherlands to advance with Francisco Lindor to record a hit and the New York Mets to win at +140.

As was the case when I parlayed Germany and France to advance over the weekend, I believe we still haven’t seen the best that the Netherlands has to offer at the tournament.

Romania is a massive underdog for a reason.

The Netherlands should be expected to advance.

Meanwhile, it took a little longer than I wanted to cash this Same Game Parlay last night.

Francisco Lindor has at least one hit in six of his last seven games, with multiple hits in four of them.

He’s also been particularly consistent at Nationals Park.

After they went 16-8 in the month of June, the Mets picked up another win in Washington last night.

I’ll take them to stay hot in another favourable match-up against the Nationals tonight.

An SGP+ with Lindor to record a hit, the Mets to win, and the Netherlands to advance could be found at +140 odds at FanDuel this morning.

I’ll lock in that SGP+ as my FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday.

Have a great day, everyone!