Brasilia: Brazil opened their account in the Copa America 2021 with a dominating 3-0 win over Venezuela in Group A on Sunday. Marquinhos alongside Neymar and Gabriel Barbosa found the net at the Mané Garrincha Stadium to bag all three points for the defending champions. Tite opted for Eder Militao in the started XI instead of Thiago Silva with Casemro leading the side.
🎬 O campeão começou com tudo na CONMEBOL #CopaAmérica!
A @CBF_Futebol 🇧🇷 venceu a Venezuela 🇻🇪 por 3-0 em partida válida pelo Grupo B ⚽¡El campeón arrancó con todo en la #CopaAmérica 2021!
Brasil superó 3-0 a Venezuela por el Grupo B#VibraElContinente #VibraElContinente pic.twitter.com/6t6j0IIOXp— Copa América (@CopaAmerica) June 14, 2021
The Samba brigade created chances right from the start but missed several times. Marquinhos eventually strangled into the box to put his team in front from a corner just before halftime. Casemiro was disciplined in the entire providing the shield in the middle of the park.
Neymar extended the lead in the second half converting his spot-kick after Danilo was taken down in the box by the visitors. Venezuela found it hard to cope with the individual brilliance of the hosts. Barbosa put the icing on the cake after a moment of brilliance from Neymar to give the forward the chance to put his name on the scoresheet. Brazil will play Peru on Friday in a repeat of the last time’s final and.
Un golazo y un gran festejo 👆🏼👆🏼
🇨🇴 Colombia 🆚 Ecuador 🇪🇨#VibraElContinente #VibraOContinente pic.twitter.com/3JaRIHlyhO
— Copa América (@CopaAmerica) June 14, 2021
In the second game of the evening, an Edwin Cardona strike sealed a 1-0 victory for Colombia over Ecuador at the Arena Pantanal in Mato Grosso. Despite a scrappy performance, Colombia found the net in a choreographed move in the first half.
Cardona took a free kick close from the edge of the box before exchanging three short passes with Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, who moved the ball forward to Miguel Borja. He headed back to Cardona, who had run towards the goalkeeper Pedro Ortiz scoring with a right-foot strike as the Ecuadorian defenders stood numb. The move though had to be validated by video review.
