Brazil and Colombia took center stage Wednesday night in Chile as the only Copa America match on the schedule and the fans were in for a treat as Los Cafeteros pulled off a surprising 1 0 upset.
Canarinho were out of sorts for much of the match. They were unable to create many high quality scoring chances. When they did though the likes of Neymar Willian and Fred simply couldn't cash in.
With Colombia's shocking triumph Group C is suddenly very interesting because they Brazil and Venezuela all have three points. The Venezuelans also have a match in hand which means the Brazilians are very much in danger with just one contest remaining in the group stage.
Following Wednesday's exciting match here is an updated look at the Copa America group standings and fixtures as well as a recap of how Colombia took down mighty Brazil.
Updated Group Tables
Copa America Group Standings Group A Pos. Team GP W D L GD Pts 1 Chile 2 1 1 0 2 4 2 Bolivia 2 1 1 0 1 4 3 Mexico 2 0 2 0 0 2 4 Ecuador 2 0 0 2 3 0 Group B Pos. Team GP W D L GD Pts 1 Argentina 2 1 1 0 1 4 2 Paraguay 2 1 1 0 1 4 3 Uruguay 2 1 0 1 0 3 4 Jamaica 2 0 0 2 2 0 Group C Pos. Team GP W D L GD Pts 1 Venezuela 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 Brazil 2 1 0 1 0 3 3 Colombia 2 1 0 1 0 3 4 Peru 1 0 0 1 1 0CA2015.com
Updated Copa America Schedule
Remaining Copa America Fixtures Date Time (ET) Home Away Watch Type June 18 7 30 p.m. Peru Venezuela beIN Sports Group Match June 19 5 p.m. Mexico Ecuador beIN Sports Group Match June 19 7 30 p.m. Chile Bolivia beIN Sports Group Match June 20 3 p.m. Uruguay Paraguay beIN Sports Group Match June 20 5 30 p.m. Argentina Jamaica beIN Sports Group Match June 21 3 p.m. Colombia Peru beIN Sports Group Match June 21 5 30 p.m. Brazil Venezuela beIN Sports Group Match June 24 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Quarterfinal June 25 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Quarterfinal June 26 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Quarterfinal June 27 5 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Quarterfinal June 29 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Semifinal June 30 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Semifinal July 3 7 30 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports Third Place July 4 5 p.m. TBD TBD beIN Sports FinalCA2015.com
Brazil vs. Colombia Recap
Brazil entered their Group C clash as favorites against Colombia particularly after Los Cafeteros shockingly fell to Venezuela in their opening match. They looked like a different team Wednesday though especially in the first half.
The Colombians looked very much equal to Brazil and their solid play ultimately paid off in the 36th minute when they jumped out to a 1 0 lead.
As seen in this video courtesy of beIN Sports Colombia had good fortune on their side as a corner fell to the feet of defender Jeison Murillo who was able to beat Brazilian goalkeeper Jefferson
It fell to the most unlikely goal scorer but Murillo tucked it away neatly. Chile2015 http //t.co/k5PGWFWhl8
beIN SPORTS ( beINSPORTS) June 18 2015Although Colombia certainly caught a good break on the goal Peter Staunton of Goal.com felt they earned it
Well deserved lead for col free kick one of many conceded in that sector by bra and Murillo capitalises
Peter Staunton ( petermstaunton) June 18 2015Brazil continued to scuffle after going down 1 0 and things went from bad to worse in the 45th minute when Verde Amarela lost their star player for the group finale against Venezuela.
Neymar was given a yellow card after already picking up one in Brazil's first match which means he will be suspended for a match that will determine whether they advance out of the group stage according to Copa America 2015 on Twitter.
The Brazilians entered halftime down by a goal and David Cartlidge of beIN Sports put the onus on Neymar to turn things around after performing so poorly in the opening 45 minutes
Big 45 coming up for Neymar. Leader of losing team expected to influence now. Pathetic attitude in first half. Bordered on embarrassing.
David Cartlidge ( davidjaca) June 18 2015David Amoyal of ESPN FC was equally unimpressed and went so far as to suggest that Brazil were merely ordinary
I wonder if there ever was a time in history when both Brazil and Italy's NTs were both so mediocre
David Amoyal ( DavidAmoyal) June 18 2015Things didn't get much better for Brazil in the second half as Colombia continued to dictate the match for the most part. The Brazilians ultimately possessed the ball more at 60 percent but the Colombians got off 15 shots to Brazil's nine.
Selecao's attempts to even the match proved futile throughout the second half. Colombia ran out the clock and scored an extremely rare victory over their South American rivals.
In fact it was Colombia's first win in 14 tries against Brazil and their first in 24 years according to Fox Soccer.
Los Cafeteros were especially good defensively as Brazil's attack was disjointed despite the immense amount of talent they had on the pitch.
That has become somewhat of a trend for Colombia at the Copa America. They have had to shut down their opponents in order to win in recent years per OptaJavier
13 Each of the last 13 wins obtained by COL in Copa America have come keeping a clean sheet. Method.
OptaJavier ( OptaJavier) June 18 2015As big as the win was for Colombia it may have been an even bigger loss for Brazil. Not only did the Brazilians lose the match but they also lost Neymar for two matches.
Both Neymar and Colombia's Carlos Bacca were given red cards after the final whistle due to a scuffle which means the Brazilian superstar will miss Brazil's quarterfinal match should they advance that far according to ESPN contributor Nick Dorrington.
While Colombia is a very skilled team losing to them in any manner would have been a disappointment for Brazil. Losing in the manner they did with Neymar costing himself two matches made the result disastrous.
It was a bad night for Brazil but it can be argued that it was a great night for the Copa America. Things are now extremely unpredictable with the Brazilians potentially on the brink of elimination.
Brazil still possess the talent to fight out of this hole and make a run even without Neymar but there is little doubt they now have an uphill climb on their hands.
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