Home Sports A Star is Born: Vinicius Jr.’s Brace Lights Up Brazil’s Copa America...

Sports

A Star is Born: Vinicius Jr.’s Brace Lights Up Brazil’s Copa America Campaign in a 4-1 Win Over Paraguay

Vinicius Junior of Brazil was the star of the show on Friday, bagging a brace in his team's 4-1 Copa America Group D win over Paraguay in Nevada. This impressive performance marked a strong comeback for the player, who had a rather underwhelming outing in his tournament debut.

Administrator

3 July, 2024

Colombia have secured their spot in the quarter-finals, leading Group D with six points from their first two games. Brazil sits comfortably in second place with four points.

Costa Rica and Paraguay bring up the rear, with one and zero points respectively. Paraguay’s hopes of advancing have been dashed after consecutive losses.

The match sprung to life from the first whistle, with Vinicius’ pace and trickery causing havoc for Paraguay down the left flank. This was a marked improvement from his lackluster performance in Brazil’s goalless draw against Costa Rica, where he struggled to make an impact.

Brazil dominated the early exchanges, but it was Paraguay who came closest to opening the scoring in the 15th minute. Damian Bobadilla’s effort took a wicked deflection off Eder Militao, forcing a quick reaction save from Alisson Becker to keep the scores level.

The game took a turn in Brazil’s favor when they were awarded a penalty for a handball in the 28th minute. However, Lucas Paqueta’s spot-kick flew wide of the mark. He made amends soon after, setting up Vinicius with a superb first-time pass to finish off a fluid team move.

The floodgates opened as Girona winger Savio pounced on a rebound to double Brazil’s lead. Vinicius then added his second of the night, diverting a clearance from Omar Alderete into the net with a clever touch just before halftime.

Paraguay pulled one back after the break with a stunning long-range strike from Alderete, sparking hopes of a comeback. But those hopes were short-lived as Brazil were awarded another penalty for a handball, this time by Mathias Villasanti. Paqueta stepped up again and made no mistake, sending the Brazil fans into a frenzy.

Tempers flared towards the end, with Andres Cubas receiving a red card for lashing out at Douglas Luiz. Brazil capitalized on their numerical advantage, comfortably seeing out the game and securing the three points.

Brazil now look ahead to their clash with group leaders Colombia in California, knowing a draw will be enough to seal their place in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Costa Rica and Paraguay will face off in Texas, both seeking a much-needed victory.