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3️⃣ things we learned as Colombia cruise and Brazil limp to the finish
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- 3️⃣ things we learned as Colombia cruise and Brazil limp to the finish
3️⃣ things we learned as Colombia cruise and Brazil limp to the finish
The Copa América group stage is finally over, and now the knockout rounds can commence. But before that, we need to dissect what went down on the final night of action.
Here are our main takeaways.
Colombia will be a tough out
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Colombia seem to have everything going for them at the moment. The forwards are finding the back of the net, the midfield is winning its battles, and the rearguard has banded together after Jhon Lucumí's injury in the opening game.
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Add on top of that a partisan crowd almost everywhere they go in the country, and you have one formidable Copa América juggernaut.
With Panama the only team standing in their way of a second consecutive semi-final berth, Los Cafeteros should feel more than confident that they will comes play a major role in where the trophy lands later this month.
The only piece of bad news for Néstor Lorenzo and his men is that they will be without Jefferson Lerma for that Panama clash due to yellow-card accumulation, but they should have more than enough to cover for the Crystal Palace man's absence.
Through but hurting
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Brazil continue to keep onlookers unmoved, even with qualification to the quarter-final wrapped up.
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The Group D runners-up looked like they may have rediscovered their spark after thumping Paraguay on matchday two, but they reverted back to their stale selves against Colombia Tuesday evening.
While they put together some fancy moves, as one would expect from a Brazilian side packed with talent, those moves always seemed to be blunt at the final moment, leaving some big names to take to social media to complain.
As mentioned before, they are through and that is all that matters. But finishing second has potentially left Brazil in a world of hurt as they will square off with an Uruguay side brimming with confidence after securing nine points in Group C.
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To make matters worse, Brazil will be without Vinicius Junior for that showdown due to yellow-card accumulation.
Finishing on a high
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Costa Rica can depart Copa América with their heads held high. After picking up a shock draw with Brazil to kick off the campaign, Los Ticos finished off with an impressive 2-1 victory against Paraguay, and finished just one point behind Vinicius Junior and his mates.
For years Costa Rica had been hellbent on finding the perfect way to transition from the Bryan Ruiz, Celso Borges, and Keylor Navas era, but it always seemed a daunting task.
But they showed at this tournament that with a sweet mix of burgeoning talent and rock-solid veterans, you can still find relative success when the odds were stacked against you.
