Brazil won a thrilling Copa America match against Colombia 2-1 on Wednesday. The game went all the way to the last minute of the game for a winner to be decided. In the tenth minute, Colombia took the lead when Juan Cuadrado crossed from the right and found Luis Diaz alone in the Brazilian penalty area.
The striker scored the tournament"s finest goal so far with a stunning volley to the right side of goalie Weverton.
Colombia then started defending against a Brazil team that had barely had breathing space around its penalty area. Colombia appeared to have a chance of winning, until the game was disrupted by Argentine referee Nestor Pitana"s knee. Pitana inadvertently stopped a ball by Neymar roughly 10 meters in front of the Colombian area in the 78th minute.
Colombian defenders stalled, but Brazil"s Lucas Paqueta simply passed the ball to left-back Renan Lodi, whose cross found Roberto Firmino, who scored with an angled header beyond Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.
Colombia boss Reinaldo Rueda told reporters after the game: “The two goals for Brazil are separate scenarios. With the first, I believe the circumstances with the referee prompted the players to become distracted. Brazil needed to go all out to get back into the game; they had good ball possession and the guys that came on made an impact. Maybe that"s why [the second half] was so different."
“However, we were incisive, and it"s a shame that the outcome was not reached."
Colombia originally refused to resume the game, but Pitana, the 2018 World Cup final referee, confirmed Brazil"s goal.
“It"s not that I"m a horrible loser," Juventus midfielder Juan Cuadrado said on Twitter, accompanied by an image of the rules that apply when the ball strikes the referee: “It"s not that I"m a bad loser but the rules are the rules."
Brazil continued to apply pressure in the closing minutes and was rewarded with a late extra-time goal. Following a corner kick by Neymar, Casemiro scored the game-winning goal.
“They came at us once and then stopped," Casemiro stated after the match. “It was our offensive against their defence," he explained. Colombia is a talented squad, but as the coach expects, we must also be mentally tough."
Brazil leads the group with nine points after three games. Colombia and Peru follow with four points, Ecuador (3), and Venezuela (2). Brazil will face Ecuador next.
