Five things we learned as Brazil beat Colombia in Copa America

A last-gasp winner helped the Selecao escape with a victory in their third group stage fixture.

Brazil maintained their 100% record in Copa America 2021 as they registered a win against Colombia on Thursday early morning. Facing their toughest opponents in the competition so far, Tite’s side came from behind to steal the winner in dying minutes. Casemiro capitalized on Neymar’s corner to score in the 10th minute of added time to add to Roberto Firmino’s equaliser.

However, Colombia were evidently tougher than most opponents Brazil faced so far in the tournament. They looked well positioned to successfully defend their lead after Luis Diaz had put them ahead in the 10th minute. Looking to hand Brazil their first home defeat in Copa America since 1975, Colombia succumbed in front of the Selecao's increased intensity in the second half. 

Here are the five things we learned as Brazil beat Colombia in Copa America on Thursday morning. 

5. Brazil’s leisurely-paced first half

Ever since taking on Brazil’s coaching job, Tite has been vocal about his intent to tire the opponents and capitalize in the second half. As a result, Brazil played with relatively less intent in the first half, similar to their two opening ties. 

Despite starting Everton Ribeiro, Neymar, Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus together, Brazil did not create a significant goalscoring chance in the first half. In contrast, They conceded within the opening 10 minutes and chased the game throughout the first half. 

Brazil’s attack looked clearly disjointed from the midfield with no verticality. Despite dominating possession and having more shots on target than their opponents, the performance was far from convincing. 

4. Colombia’s 4-4-2 resistance

In modern football, sides find a compact 4-4-2 structure in mid and low blocks extremely hard to penetrate. Colombia’s game plan to resist Brazil’s repeated threats was to stick to this basic, yet effective game plan. 

Despite committing players forward, Brazil looked out-numbered in midfield. Colombia's midfield players dropped deep and stopped the hosts from playing the final pass.

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Wilmar Barrios closely marked Neymar, often Brazil's creative force. Brazil turned to other passing channels but were blocked. Colombia did not aggressively press Brazil. Instead, they preferred to maintain their defensive shape and win the ball from an overloaded midfield.

Brazil's attempts to load long balls into the opposition box also failed with Colombia’s tall central defenders, especially Yerry Mina, clearing them with ease. This made things worse for the Selecao and they struggled to find the right key to break this resistance.

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3. Colombia’s tactics behind the wonder goal 

Colombia’s two forwards, Zapata and Borre, tucked in to make room for wide midfielders. The two wide midfielders tasked to make runs on the channels were Cuadrado and Diaz. Colombia’s first goal, an overhead volley from Diaz, was a fruit of this tactic. 

Throughout the game, Colombia overloaded the opposite flank to land diagonal balls. Diaz attacked the box, supporting the strikers whenever Cuadrado made runs in the opposite flanks. As a result of this move, Colombia scored early, courtesy of a diagonal ball capitalized by Diaz. With the central defenders occupied to track two strikers, Diaz timed his jump perfectly to execute the goal.  

2. Is Firmino the missing piece for Brazil?

Brazil’s primary concern in the first half was the lack of connection between midfield and forward line. Tite threw Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino as his trump card and this move worked in Brazil’s favour. 

Firmino, coming in for Everton Ribeiro, provided the link between midfield and forward line and let Neymar play in his regular role. By dropping deep and creating space for the rest of the advanced players, Firmino added more impetus to Brazil’s gameplay. They started finding their attackers in pockets and as a result, were building up pressure for the equaliser. 

In fact, Firmino was directly involved in creating chances, linking up plays and releasing through balls for his teammates. He also scored the equaliser for Brazil in the 78th minute. 

1. Was the referee’s decision to count Brazil’s equaliser right? 

Brazil's disputed equaliser, which stopped play for roughly eight minutes, was the main highlight of the game. Lucas Paqueta collected a pass that came to him after hitting the referee and initiated the move that led to Brazil’s equaliser.

A visible confusion was seen among the Colombian players, as for a moment, they anticipated that the play was stopped by the referee. The pause was followed by Firmino’s goal.  

It will always be an arguable decision since the referee's touch was decisive in Paqueta collecting the ball and initiating the move. According to the rule books, a drop ball situation was favourable. Ideally, the goal should have been overturned as the ball, after coming off the referee, awarded Brazil an advantage to initiate the attack. 

Brazil will now face Ecuador in their final group stage game before advancing to the knockouts.

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