At 9 o'clock on July 3, Beijing time, Group D of the 2024 Copa America group stage will be contested, and the five-star Brazilian team will play against the Colombian team. This year's Brazilian team is obviously less star-studded than in the past, with the number one star Neymar continuing to recuperate, Vinicius and Rodrygo, two Real Madrid stars, leading the game, although the latter has repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to play as a center forward, but he can only reluctantly make it difficult.
Brazil's three lines were unbalanced, especially the lack of creative stars in the midfield, with a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in the opening game and a 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay, ranked 58th in the world, in the second round. In this round, Brazil only needs to draw against Colombia to qualify from the group.
Colombia's performance in the group stage of this Copa America was stable, with a 2-1 win over Paraguay in the first game, with Ronaldo contributing 2 assists, and a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in the second round. In this round against Brazil, Colombia will secure the top spot in the group with a draw, while Brazil obviously do not want to finish second in the group because they will face the favourites Uruguay, the former World Cup champions.
Once the game began, Brazil were aggressive, but it was difficult to threaten through positional battles. In the 12th minute of the game, Brazil got a free kick opportunity in front of the penalty area, and Barcelona winger Raphinha scored directly from a free kick, and Brazil led 1-0. It is worth mentioning that Brazil scored from a Copa America free-kick for the first time since Rivaldo in 1999. In the 22nd minute, Ronaldo took a free kick and Sanchez headed home, but it was ruled out for offside. In first-half stoppage time, Colombia continued to attack, Muñoz burst into the penalty area and scored a goal, and Colombia equalized 1-1.
In the second half, the Brazilian team deliberately strengthened the attack, but there were not many ways to attack. On the contrary, the Colombian team got a lot of good chances to score, especially in the 85th minute, Dias broke through on the left and sent a cross, and the unmarked Bore at the back point kicked away in the face of the half-empty goal, otherwise it would be difficult for Brazil to get a point.
In the end, Brazil drew 1-1 with Colombia. In the other game, Costa Rica scored in the opening three minutes, with Calvo netting to give his side the lead. Just four minutes later, Alcocer scored to give Costa Rica a 2-0 lead. In the 55th minute, Sosa pulled a goal back for Paraguay. In the end, Costa Rica, the dark horse of the 2014 World Cup, won but was still eliminated.
After this round of matches, the top 8 of the Copa America are all released, Argentina will play Ecuador, Venezuela VS Canada, Uruguay VS Brazil, Colombia VS Panama. Judging from the current strength and state of the Brazilian team, in the face of the Uruguay team, the favorite to win this Copa America, the five-star Brazil may stop in the top 8, let's wait and see. (Xiong Yixuan)