Colombia extended their unbeaten streak to 26 games as Nestor Lorenzo’s men held Brazil and Vinicius Jr. to a 1-1 draw in which the Selecao looked anything but convincing.
Brazil came into the match against Colombia in second place of Group D, knowing they had to leave Santa Clara with all three points to top the group and avoid Uruguay in the Copa America 2024 quarter-finals. After his squad secured a convincing 4-1 victory over Paraguay, Dorival Junior only made one change to his starting XI, replacing Savio with Raphinha, who opened the scoring 12 minutes in.
However, Daniel Munoz’s equalizer just before the interval, keeping Colombia top of the standings and handing Brazil a tough test against Uruguay.
How the game unfolded
Brazil and Colombia traded blows in the opening ten minutes of the match, playing end to end with high intensity and crunching tackles. The first real chance for either side came in the eighth minute when James Rodriguez sent a dangerous free kick off the crossbar from 30 yards out. Brazil got the chance to answer with a free kick of their own just four minutes later; Raphinha scoring off a brilliant left-footed strike that curled over Colombia’s wall and into the top right corner of the net past an outstretched Camilo Vargas.
Colombia thought they had found an equalizer in the 20th minute off a header from Davinson Sanchez, but the flag was up. Los Cafeteros did not take their foot of the gas and continued searching for a breakthrough against Brazil’s backline, enjoying prolonged spells of possession. It was Munoz who finally beat Alisson in first-half stoppage time after Jhon Cordoba drew three defenders on him at the top of the box, leaving the right-back unmarked 12 yards out to slot home an easy goal.
The second half lacked the urgent pace of the first 45 minutes. Tied at 1-1, both sides fought to find a winner, but their half-chances posed no real issues for Alisson or Vargas for almost the entire half. Colombia, though, seemed to get a second wind with just ten minutes left in the match. Luis Diaz played a brilliant cross to an unmarked Rafael Santos Borre at the far post, but the substitute skied the chance.
Brazil were lucky to come away from the match with one point, especially after the Selecao failed to create any dangerous scoring chances in the second half. Dorival Junior’s squad certainly did not look like a team that needed to win to finish atop their group.
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