Copa America 2016: 5 player battles to look out for in the quarter-finals

Last year’s Copa America winners, Chile will be looking for a repeat performance.

While the Euro’s have just about begun their second round of matches, the Copa America 2016 has reached the business end of the tournament. With Brazil and Uruguay out, we’ve been deprived of plenty of talent much earlier than expected, but they’re plenty of star players on show nevertheless, and we are looking forward to a scintillating end to the football tournament.

Argentina are clearly everyone’s favourites, but Mexico have had an equally impressive tournament and the champions of the Copa America 2015, Chile, are as gritty and motivated as ever. The hosts, the United States of America have also been solid and exceeded expectations so far and Colombia have been making an impression on the international stage for several years now. Expect the underdogs like Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru to be in with a shout as well and all in all the quarter finals throw up some extremely intriguing match-ups to look forward to.

We take a look at some of the best player battles on show in the Quarter-Finals that will be instrumental in which teams battle it out for a place in the final.

Hector Herrera (Mexico) vs Arturo Vidal (Chile)

Vidal will need to out-fight Herrera if Chile are to control the midfield battle.

Arturo Vidal is now well recognized across the world. With clubs like Bayern and Juve on his CV, his status as one of the best box to box midfielders in football isn’t really in any doubt. There were question marks over his fitness after his big money move to Bayern but the way he ended the season with the Bavarians have more than dispelled those. He has the knack of scoring crucial goals for both club and country and has already scored twice in the group stage.

Vidal will be up against Porto’s Herrera in the middle of the park and the sight of the two immensely talented and energetic midfielders up against each other should be a delight to watch. Herrera is currently being courted by Napoli and Liverpool and is one of the best midfielders in the world not to have played in any of the top 5 European Leagues as of yet. His energy and hustle along with his passing abilities have ensured that several clubs are lining up for his services.