Vinícius Júnior scored two goals in the first half to lead Brazil to a 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night, putting them in a good position to advance from Group D in the Copa America.
“Today, he played almost a perfect match,” said Brazil coach Dorival Júnior through an interpreter. “He was very dynamic.”
Sávio also scored a goal in the first half for Brazil, while Lucas Paquetá scored from a penalty kick in the second half. Omar Alderete scored Paraguay’s goal.
The match had some tense moments with five yellow cards and a red card issued. Andres Cubas received a red card in the 81st minute, leaving Paraguay with ten players for the remainder of the match. Yellow cards were given to Brazil’s Wendell, Vinícius Júnior, and Lucas Paquetá, as well as Paraguay’s Fabián Balbuena and Hernesto Caballero.
The victory was a strong response from the Seleção after they opened the tournament with a scoreless draw against Costa Rica, despite dominating with 18 shots to their opponent’s 2.
“There was some disappointment with the lack of results in the first match,” Dorival Júnior noted. “But I think our performance was at a high level. We’ve made significant progress in a short amount of time. We rarely have 20 days to prepare together.”
With four points, Brazil is two points behind group leaders Colombia, who earlier defeated Costa Rica 3-0 on Friday.
A win or draw against Colombia on Tuesday will secure one of the two spots from the group into the knockout stage for Brazil. Additionally, Brazil has a six-goal advantage over Costa Rica in goal differential, making it likely they will advance even with a loss.
Paraguay, on the other hand, will not progress to the next round, leading to some heated exchanges between coach Daniel Garnero and reporters questioning the team’s ongoing struggles in the tournament. Although Paraguay has won Copa America twice, their last title was in 1979.
“There have been many coaches and no one is finding the answer,” Garnero said through an interpreter. “You’re talking about a match that just ended. I can’t discuss something that happened a long time ago.”
Brazil has faced challenges against Paraguay in Copa America games, drawing in their last five meetings. This streak is tied for the second-longest unbeaten run against Brazil in this tournament, a record Paraguay also held from 1963 to 1983.
However, Brazil won their most recent encounter, defeating Paraguay 4-0 two years ago in World Cup qualifying. The outcome of this match was never in doubt after two late goals broke it open, ending a contentious first half.
Shortly after Bruno Guimarães hit the crossbar, Sávio scored Brazil’s second goal in the 43rd minute.
Both teams were involved in a scuffle during stoppage time of the first half. Referee Piero Maza of Chile issued yellow cards to Wendell and Balbuena during the three-plus minutes of added time. Vinícius Júnior then dealt the final blow five minutes into stoppage time.
Paraguay had opportunities and even outshot Brazil 8-5, with a 4-3 advantage on goal. Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker made a spectacular save diving to his right to deny Damián Bobodilla 15 minutes into the match.
Early in the second half, Alderete scored to narrow the deficit to 3-1. Seventeen minutes later, Lucas Paquetá made up for a missed penalty kick in the first half by scoring to restore Brazil’s three-goal lead.
“We faced two top-class teams,” Garnero said, referring to Paraguay’s 2-1 loss to Colombia in their opening match. “It’s tough in my position. I see a great effort from the team. They have measured up, but we still need to achieve the results.”
Dorival Júnior made a bold and controversial decision by choosing not to start Raphinha. With national team star Neymar watching from the stands, the move clearly paid off.
Raphinha came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, replacing Sávio late in the game.
