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Adam Booker¡24 June 2024
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Adam Booker¡24 June 2024
Copa AmĂŠrica Group D is finally underway as round one comes to a close Monday evening. Colombia took on Paraguay, while Brazil is set to square off with Costa Rica. Here is what has gone down so far.
It was one-way traffic from the first whistle, as Brazilâs superstars pinged the ball around the Costa Rican block, but they did little to penetrate in the opening 20 minutes.
Brazil appeared to break the deadlock from a set-piece when Ăder MilitĂŁo tapped home at the back-post, but the goal was chalked off after a lengthy VAR check revealed a Brazilian player to be offside before the ball fell to the Real Madrid man.
While they did little to threaten Brazil at the other end, Costa Rica would have taken great encouragement from reaching the half-time break with the score level.
After the restart, Brazil continued to push, fashioning a handful of chances that were spurned one after another by heroic Costa Rican defending, holding on for a stunning draw.
Scorers: MuĂąoz 32â˛; Lerma 42Ⲡ; Enciso 69â˛
Colombia fended off a late push to earn all three points against Paraguay to kick off Group D.
NĂŠstor Lorenzo were rampant in the early going, putting the Paraguayan rearguard under immense pressure from the very first whistle.
They were finally rewarded for the efforts past the half-hour mark when Daniel MuĂąoz broke the deadlock to bring the roof of NRG Stadium.
They backed that goal up with one more before the break when Jefferson Lerma was left unmarked in the box to fire home and double the lead.
While it looked like Colombia would cruise to the finish line, Paraguay pulled one back through Julio Enciso, forcing the leaders out of their shell once again.
A late Colombia penalty shout was waved off after a VAR check, but Paraguay could not take advantage of their second chance to find an equalizer.
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