Copa America 
/ Michael Lintorn / 14 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Neymar felt he delivered his Santos form as Brazil beat Ecuador 4-2
"Despite their unconvincing early form, Brazil are unsurprisingly still rated the most likely Group B participants to take the trophy at [4.0]."
Brazil, Venezuela and Paraguay all progressed to the quarter-finals on a hectic final day in Group B, and two of those sides will renew acquaintances this weekend.
The main theme of the Copa America group stage was that of the favourites starting unthinkably slowly and then raising their game when it mattered most and Brazil kept it alive with a 4-2 victory over Ecuador.
The holders, winners of four of the last five editions, entered their final Group B fixture knowing that defeat would end their participation but they wound up claiming top spot after two strikes from Alexandre Pato [[6.2] to be top goalscorer] and Neymar [[6.0]], the latter's first competitive goals for his country.
It wasn't all plain sailing for Mano Menezes' men though, who were twice pegged back courtesy of Felipe Caicedo by an Ecuador side who hadn't found the net in their first two matches in what was easily the most goal-littered day of the competition so far.
In the earlier encounter, Venezuela and Paraguay both booked their last-eight places with an action-packed 3-3 draw. Venezuela scored twice in the final two minutes to avoid defeat, in doing so denying Paraguay their first triumph and finishing above the World Cup quarter-finalists.
Brazil's success later in the evening made that late action even more significant as Paraguay were ranked the second-best third-placed team, a position that due to a few flaws in the format means that they now face the Group B table-toppers again, while Venezuela must meet Chile.
Despite their unconvincing early form, Brazil are unsurprisingly still rated the most likely Group B participants to take the trophy at [4.0], however even that is a big increase on the [3.3] that they were offered at before the tournament.
Venezuela's impressive performance to date hasn't altered the perception that they are the least likely nation to go all the way for the first time in their history at [95.0], while Paraguay's upcoming collision with the Selecao renders them [29.0] long shots.
The knockout rounds get underway on Saturday with Colombia clashing with Peru and an Argentina versus Uruguay showdown that the Albiceleste are [1.6] to win. Don't forget - every single Copa America game is available for free via Betfair's fantastic Live Video service.
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