Brazil and Paraguay will face each other today at the Allegiant Stadium, near Las Vegas, for the second day of Group D of the Copa América 2024. The history between both teams is very extensive, although there is a match played 75 years ago that was marked with fire.
In 1949, the Seleção won its third Copa América in a very special context. Called the South American Championship at the time, the tournament was played in the South American giant as a prelude to the organization of the 1950 World Cup, which ended up being won by Uruguay in the famous Maracanazo.
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The format was different at the time: eight teams participated (Argentina did not participate due to differences with the hosts) who played a round robin and the team with the most points was crowned champion. Paraguay was the great revelation and was close to winning the title for the first time in its history.
The Paraguayan team beat all teams except Uruguay. Therefore, they finished tied in points with Brazil, the big favorite with names like Jair, top scorer in that tournament, Ademir and Zizinho, among others.
Qué mejor forma de prepararnos para la @CopaAmerica que recordando al goleador de la edición de 1949: Jair Rosa Pinto 👟⚽ pic.twitter.com/FVbHA030Q4
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) June 13, 2019
Therefore, a tiebreaker match had to be held that took place on May 11 at the São Januário stadium, located in Rio de Janeiro and home of Vasco da Gama. Three days before, on the final day of the league, Paraguay had beaten Amarelinha 2-1, so they arrived motivated for the final.
However, what happened in that match, under the refereeing of Englishman Cyril Jack Barrick, was historic and unexpected. Brazil, dressed in white, thrashed its rival 7-0 with a hat-trick from Ademir, a double from Jair and two other goals from Tesourinha.
Há 65 anos, o Brasil goleou a Bolívia de maneira impiedosa. Veja:http://t.co/qDmbFPPXDp #cbf #selecao pic.twitter.com/fN3Glow0lE
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) April 10, 2014
That win is to date the final with the most goals in a Copa América. Paraguay could not be champion, but it had revenge in the following edition: in the 1953 competition, held in Peru, they won the final 3-2 against Brazil.
