Copa America 2024, summary of July 2

Brazilian Vinicius Jr. received a yellow card in the match against Colombia, in the closing match of Group D, and will miss the quarter-finals. Paraguay and Costa Rica were eliminated from the tournament. Main photo: EFE

The national teams of Brazil and Colombia tied 1-1 on Tuesday, July 2, in the closing match of Group D of the 2024 Copa América, which was played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (California, USA) and which left them both qualified for the quarterfinals. They will face Uruguay and Panama, respectively.

A Raphinha free-kick goal for Brazil in the 12th minute and Daniel Muñoz’s equalizer for Colombia in the 47th minute sealed an intense match in which Colombia achieved the business it set out to do by maintaining its lead in the group to face Panama in the quarterfinals.

The Barcelona winger scored in the 12th minute, shortly after James Rodriguez, ever-present at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, hit the crossbar from another free kick taken from outside the area.

Néstor Lorenzo’s team saw the VAR disallow a goal by Davinson Sánchez for offside in a set play.

The bad news for Brazil came in the 7th minute when Vinícius Jr. raised James Rodríguez’s arm and received a yellow card, which means he will not be playing against Uruguay on July 6.

In Colombia, Jefferson Lerma was also cautioned and will not be playing against Panama.

Colombia will face Panama in the quarterfinals on July 6 in Glendale, Arizona, and Brazil will face Uruguay on the same day in the second match at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Photo: EFE

Costa Rica was hopeful, but the miracle never came

The dream, a thrashing and a great miracle, basic ingredients for Costa Rica’s qualification to the quarterfinals of the Copa America, were in short supply this Tuesday at the Q2 Stadium in Austin. The team had a pyrotechnic start, but fell into the slumber of a narrow 2-1 victory over Paraguay.

The Costa Rican team created fear with two goals at the start of the match, at 3 and 7 minutes, but the impetus of Francisco Calvo and Josimar Alcócer was diluted by an Albirroja team, which, like a limited boxer, preferred to tie down its rival to avoid a bigger beating.

If Costa Rica needed to win and Colombia needed to beat Brazil at the same time, then neither the dream came true nor did the miracle work.

To make matters worse, Paraguayan Ramón Sosa came on early in the second half to close the gap in the 55th minute.

Paraguay could have done more in the farewell to a Copa América to forget, in which they did not score any points, and Costa Rica went home with 4 of 9 and the satisfaction of having dealt a media blow to Brazil in the debut (0-0).