Brazil played out an action-packed 1-1 draw with Colombia in California on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering Copa America quarter-final against Uruguay.
Colombia, who finished top of Group D on seven points, will face Panama in the last eight.
Daniel Munoz’s first-half strike for Colombia cancelled out an impressive early free kick from Brazil’s Raphinha. The result extended Colombia’s unbeaten streak to 26 matches, though it did mark the end of their 10-match winning run.
“It was a match we all wanted to play to measure ourselves in a good moment for the team. I think we took another step forward today,” Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo said.
“With Brazil you cannot neglect the team even for a second. The feeling is one of satisfaction against a complicated opponent and now we are going to think about Panama.”
Brazil defender Marquinhos said the team are not firing on all cylinders yet.
“We have to be honest with ourselves, we still have a lot to grow, a lot to improve, especially in these big games,” he added.
The match between Colombia, unbeaten since March 2022, and five-times World Cup winners Brazil lived up to its firecracker billing as the two sides tore into each other straight from the kickoff.
In a frantic first fifteen minutes at Levi’s Stadium, Vinicius Jr was shown a yellow card after accidentally striking James Rodriguez while tussling over a loose ball, a booking which rules the winger out of the Uruguay match.
Rodriguez went within inches of scoring the opener as he clipped the crossbar from the resulting free kick.
But he was upstaged in the 12th minute by Raphinha, who whipped a sublime free kick of his own into the top corner to give Brazil the lead.
Colombia thought they had equalised when Davinson Sanchez headed home Rodriguez’s dangerous cross into the box but the goal was disallowed for offside after a lengthy VAR check.
Brazil claimed for a penalty in the 42nd minute when Munoz brought down Vinicius in the box but television replays showed the Colombia defender got a touch on the ball.
Colombia striker Jhon Cordoba then found a pocket of space on the edge of the area and played a brilliant through ball to Munoz, who rifled his effort into the net to level the scores in first-half stoppage time.
Despite the searing California heat neither side let the intensity drop after the break and Raphinha came close to scoring from another free kick in the 59th minute, firing just wide of the post.
Colombia also had their chances to score in the second half, the best of which fell to substitute Rafael Borre, who blazed a shot over the crossbar from close range.
Colombia keeper Camilo Vargas had to be sharp to keep out Brazil substitute Andreas Pereira’s dipping long-range effort deep into stoppage time.
(Reuters)
