Brazil’s concerning World Cup qualifying form carried into Copa America on Monday night as the five-time World Cup champions were held to a 0-0 draw by Costa Rica in both teams’ Group D opener in Inglewood, Calif.
The underdog Ticos had only two shot attempts and none on target over the 90 minutes, but they held on to preserve one of the greatest results of their national team history. Costa Rica had lost three previous times to the Brazilians in World Cup group play and twice more in previous Copa America fixtures.
Patrick Sequeira made four saves to frustrate the Brazilians and help Colombia finish the day atop the group after their 2-1 opening win over Paraguay earlier Monday.
“We were Bruce Willis in ‘The Sixth Sense,’ where the only one that did not know he was dead was him, right?” Costa Rica manager Gustavo Alfaro said through an interpreter. “Well, everyone thought we were dead before the movie started in our case.”
In Brazil manager Dorival Junior’s first competitive fixture since his appointment in January, the Selecao showed the same wastefulness that had plagued them in a qualifying campaign in which they have scored only eight times across six matches.
“It was a well-contested match,” Dorival Junior said through an interpreter. “We had some difficulties. We created great opportunities, there was a good flow of passes, but we were not able to achieve the scoring. But I think that we did show very positive elements.”
The result might have been different if referee Cesar Arturo Ramos had seen an early penalty appeal from Vinicius Junior differently, or if an apparent 30th-minute Brazil goal from a well-worked set piece had stood.
On the latter, Raphinha curled an outswinging ball from the left flank toward the near post, Rodrygo flicked the ball on — perhaps with an inadvertent shoulder — toward the back post, and Marquinhos met it for a simple tap-in.
However, after a lengthy video review, Marquinhos was ruled to have been fractionally offside when Rodrygo made contact, and the Costa Ricans were spared.
The missed chances continued for Brazil after halftime, and even after Dorival Junior’s somewhat surprising decision to remove Vinicius Junior in the 71st minute.
“We were not finding the way, so we were trying to find the solution,” Dorival Junior said. “So that is why we made the replacement.”
Brazil’s Lucas Paqueta struck the right post with his effort from outside the box in the 63rd minute.
Ticos center back Haxzel Quiros nearly directed the ball under pressure into his own goal in the 72nd, saved only by Sequeira’s swift reaction.
In the 79th, Sequeira dove to his right to push away Guilherme Arana’s first-time half-volley from near the penalty arc.
Then in second-half stoppage time, Savio impressively wove his way into the penalty area from the right and then laid the ball to his left, but Bruno Guimaraes fired his first-time attempt over the bar.
–Field Level Media
