July 06, (THEWILL) – Brazil kept the defense of their Copa America title on course on Monday by booking their ticket to the final with a lone goal victory over co-semifinalists Peru at the Estadio Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, where another Lucas Paqueta goal was the telling difference between the two sides.
THEWILL recalls that both teams met at the final of the same competition in 2019 and the result bore a semblance to that game as Brazil again triumphed over their western border neighbours, Peru, having benefited from a first half goal, that Peru struggled hard but could not overturn.
There could have been more goals scored as goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, in the Peru post, was kept busy all through and had to be at his most alert to limit the damage and give his teammates a fighting chance at finding an equaliser that never came.
Right from the 13th minute of the game, Gallese was under pressure but he survived that first nervy moment without blemish as, even though he spilled a long-range Casemiro free-kick, he was the fastest to recover and claim it before anyone else could react.
The keeper’s sharp reflexes continued to keep Peru in contention. Several attempts by Brazilian playmaker Neymar were rebuffed by Gallese’s heroics even from close range. After which, Gallese also reacted speedily to stop a follow-up attempt by Everton’s Richarlison.
But, as the Brazilians kept up the pressure while keeping Peru at bay, it was only a matter of time before they found a way through. They finally bested the goalkeeping of Gallese and broke the deadlock with just 10 minutes of the first half remaining.
Like it often happens, Neymar was in the thick of things as once again Richarlison sent a through-ball to the Paris Saint-Germain player. Neymar slalomed past a trio of players before squaring a pass to Paqueta, who made no mistake from close range, finding the net with a left-footed goal.
Brazil returned to the second period in the same form as they did the first but Peru had picked up some pace to finally reach the Brazil danger area to disturb the previously idle goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, four minutes after the return to action.
The Manchester City goalie was aware of the danger of Gianluca Lapadula, after the Peru forward cut inside and fired a shot across goal, to swat off the chance and keep Brazil in the lead. Again, Peru came to Moraes just past the hour mark. This time, Raziel Garcia tried his luck from distance with a tricky attempt that did not unsettle Brazil’s number one.
With 19 minutes left on the clock in regulation time, the effervescent Richarlison appeared to have been brought down by Peru defender Aldo Corzo and Brazil players collectively shouted for referee Roberto Tobar to penalise Corzo and award them a penalty but he was having none of it and waved for play to continue.
There was a final opportunity for Peru to find a leveller and force the game into extra time ten minutes later. The less-busy Moraes completely missed his attempt to punch a free-kick away and Alexander Callens had the lifetime chance to equalise but failed to direct his header properly, only to see it sail wide.
It was all Brazil needed to reach the final for a shot at a 10th Copa title in their second consecutive final. In addition to that, 60-year-old Brazilian coach Tite also made history as it was his 12th match without defeat in the CONMEBOL showpiece history, matching the record set by Mario Zagallo as the head coach of the Seleccao.
It is the 13th unbeaten match for Brazil in all competitions out of which they have managed to keep 10 clean sheets in all. They will wait to know which one of either Argentina or Colombia will be their opponents in Saturday’s final.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
