COLOMBIA and Brazil settled for a 1-1 draw to earn their place in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Copa America on Wednesday (Philippine time) at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Brazil drew first blood as Rapinha drilled a close-range shot, but Colombia responded with a conversion from Daniel Muñoz in the first-half stoppage time to force a 1-1 draw.
Brazil still had a chance to secure the victory in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time but Andreas Pereira’s attempt was foiled by the defense of Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.
“This was a match that we all wanted to have our strong moments of play, and I think we have taken another step forward,” Colombia coach Néstor Lorenzo said. “With Brazil, you cannot be careless for even one second.”
Colombia plays Panama in a quarterfinal on Saturday (Sunday morning in the Philippines) in Glendale, Arizona, while Brazil will tangle with Uruguay also on the same day.
“It will be a difficult game against Uruguay, but they also know they will have a difficult game against Brazil,” Brazil coach Dorival Júnior said in a post-game presser.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica was eliminated from the Copa America playoffs despite beating Paraguay, 2-1, in their final group stage game at the Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Francisco Calvo opened the scoring for Costa Rica as he was left wide open in front of the net to head home Joseph Mora’s cross in the third minute of the match.
Josimar Alcócer then doubled the advantage for Costa Rica four minutes later as he dribbled from near midfield and slotted a shot from distance past Paraguay’s Rodrigo Morínigo.
Paraguay managed to cut the deficit to 1-2 on a 55th-minute conversion by Ramón Sosa but they were unable to tie the score after Ángel Romero’s close-range shot was foiled by Costa Rica goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira./PN
