Buzzing Brazil Cast Their Demons Aside

Ian Mcfarlane Takes A Look Back At This Summer’s Copa America.

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AFTER being hammered 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup in 2014, Brazil were under pressure to deliver in the Copa America on home soil – and duly delivered.

The opening match proved to be a sign of things to come – Brazil enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win against Bolivia. Philippe Coutinho scored twice, once from the spot, and Everton netted a superb third in Sao Paulo.

Bolivia would go on to lose all three of their games, conceding three goals in all of them. However they did register in 3-1 losses to both Peru and Venezuela.

Brazil had two goals wiped out by VAR – it was bound to make an impact - in a goalless draw with the Venezuelans.

Then the Selecao demolished Peru 5-0 in the final group game. There were five different goalscorers, with Everton scoring his second of the competition and Willian coming off the bench to score a rasper to round off the scoring.

Peru’s defending, especially from set-pieces, and goalkeeping was dreadful. Little did we know at the time that these two sides would eventually contest the final.

Brazil qualified as winners of the group, with Venezuela, also unbeaten, coming second. Peru went through as one of the best third-placed teams.

Group B started with an Argentina side in transition being outclassed by the Colombians. Lionel Scaloni’s men plodded through the early exchanges before being well-beaten 2-0 with goals coming from two substitutes, Roger Martinez and the red-hot Duvan Zapata, carrying on from where he left off from the domestic season at Atalanta.

Paraguay and Qatar (Asian invitees) played out an engaging 2-2 draw, the former squandering a two-goal lead.