Rio de Janeiro: There’s no stopping defending champions Brazil as they beat Chile 1-0 in the quarterfinal of the Copa America 2021 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. A sole strike in the second half by Lucas Paqueta at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos helped the ‘Samba boys’ seal a semifinal berth with Peru despite playing a man down in later parts of the game.
FINAL! O @cbf_futebol venceu por 1-0 o @LaRoja com gol de Lucas Paquetá pelas Quartas de Final da CONMEBOL #CopaAmérica
¡FINAL! Brasil venció 1-0 a Chile con gol de Lucas Paquetá en los Cuartos de Final
🇧🇷 Brasil 🆚 Chile 🇨🇱#VibraElContinente #VibraOContinente pic.twitter.com/PkBgcMuEDs
— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ (@CopaAmerica) July 3, 2021
Chile was always a tricky opponent for the hosts to deal with. Tite’s men got the first chance when Neymar found Roberto Firmino in the box who missed his header. Ederson also made a fine save to deny Eduardo Vargas a clear-cut opportunity. Brazil took lead shortly after the break as substitute Lucas Paqueta found the gap in between the opposing defence slotting it past Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Neymar had a good game and was the one who was creating the attacking move
However, the match heated up after Gabriel Jesus was sent off following a dangerous studs-up challenge. Chile with a man advantage created constant pressure on the Brazilian defence in later parts of the game. Vargas’ equalizer in the 62nd with a close-range shot looked to make an opening for the visitors, but VAR confirmed the offside call was correct. Brazil kept their cool at the back seeing through the rest of the game to seal a victory.
