Manchester United and Liverpool target Roberto Firmino scored the winner as Brazil claimed Copa America Group C with a 2-1 victory over Venezuela. The result knocked out Venezuela and sent Colombia through to the last eight.
Upon its been a difficult week for Brazil, there was relief in this 2-1 victory over Venezuela. The win took Brazil through to the quarterfinals at the top of Group C, but it also provided necessary encouragement.
This was an essentially functional win, at least until a failed attempt to see out the match invited Venezuela back into the proceedings, but it was, by some margin, its best performance of the tournament. The overall display suggested the suspension of Neymar may not deter the team in terms of its chances of winning the tournament.
Brazil will take heart ahead of a quarterfinal meeting with Paraguay in the last eight. So too will the Colombians after the triumph sent them through in third place instead of the Venezuelans.
It is the collective response to Neymar's suspension that will prove most encouraging, though. The presence of a star can be counterproductive. Neymar dominated Brazil to an extraordinary degree, the experienced Brazilian columnist Juca Kfouri said no Brazil team had ever been so dependent on one player. The result was a side in which nobody else ever took responsibility and everything became very predictable: stop Neymar and you stopped Brazil. That is unhealthy at any level, but it’s almost inexcusable for a team with pretensions to be one of the best in the world and that’s without even considering the psychological impact of Neymar’s behavior. Perhaps there was some justification in his belief that he was by far the best player, that he had to do everything, but certain incidents, most notably the way he shoved Elias and Diego Tardelli away from a free-kick in the opening game against Peru, suggested his flexing of his ego had become detrimental to morale. What’s really strange is that Brazil allowed itself to fall into that trap given how insistent Dunga is always on the importance of team.
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Well it was a great game and once again, CONMEBOL's decision not to play the final group games simultaneously was called into question. After Peru had drawn 0-0 with Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela knew that a draw would take both through. As it turned out, there was no sense of collusion, but that’s not the point: there shouldn’t even be the possibility. And, anyway, the drama is diminished when there is not that constant, nagging doubt about what may be happening in the other game.
It took just eight minutes for Brazil to go ahead, as Thiago Silva met Robinho’s corner with a fearsome volley that was past Alain Baroja before he’d had time to react. The center-back immediately dedicated the goal to Neymar: it wasn’t quite the mawkishness of the World Cup, when his shirt was brandished before the semi-final defeat to Germany as though he were a slaughtered martyr rather than an injured footballer, but it did seem a strange gesture to a player who had let his country down. The cries of conspiracy are ludicrous: Neymar has not been persecuted. He has been banned for picking up two yellow cards in two games, headbutting an opponent and abusing a referee. There can be no sense he is a victim.
Venezuela, for its part, was strangely passive until a double substitution at half-time injected some urgency. By then, though, it was too late, and Brazil had already hit its rhythm. Only a superb save from Baroja denied Thiago Silva a second goal form a corner, and then, six minutes into the second half, Willian, who has arguably been Brazil’s best player since Dunga took the job, curved a perfect ball across the box with the outside of his right foot for Roberto Firmino to make it 2-0.
On came David Luiz for Roberto Firmino to play at the back of midfield, while Marqinhos replaced Robinho. The defensive moves had the fans around the manager’s bench barracking Dunga as Brazil looked to kill the game with four center-backs on the pitch and Dani Alves on the right wing.
All it did though, was to invite pressure. Venezuela, having looked as though it would never score, began to pose a threat. Juan Arango had already had one free-kick tipped over by Jefferson when, with six minutes remaining, his effort was pushed onto the post by the keeper. Nicolas Fedor swept up to score with a stumbling header. Suddenly, Venezuela had hope and Colombia’s place in the last eight was in danger. The second goal never arrived, though. Brazil held on in the end, but it should never have even been in doubt.
Watch match highlights from both games...
Brazil vs Venezuela game
Colombia vs Peru game
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