Paquetá celebrates his goal against Peru with Neymar.Silvia Izquierdo / AP
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Brazil showed its two faces.
That of a team that overwhelmed the rivals with and without the ball and delivered to the talent of Neymar;
but also that of the cyclothymic group that forgets their ID and is sustained thanks to their goalkeeper Ederson.
From the outset, Brazil threatened to beat Peru, as it had already done in the group stage (4-0).
It seemed like Neymar's show, lots of dribbling and an assist for Lucas Paquetá.
All at the intense pace that Tite wanted.
It lasted a while.
Ricardo Gareca reactivated Peru and the focus, as in the quarterfinals against Chile, went from Neymar to Ederson.
The same luck as against the Red, Brazil came out unscathed and is now where it wanted: in its final at the Maracana.
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The symbol of Brazil is Neymar, obviously;
but the leader of the Canarinha is Tite.
The coach does not lose an official match from Russia (in the quarterfinals against Belgium) and never lost to a South American team for points.
Peru was no exception.
And it's not because the
Gareca
Tiger
doesn't try.
The Argentine coach changed much more than the face of the Inca team.
Since sitting on the bench, Peru has returned to a World Cup after 36 years and reached the semifinals in three of the last four Copa América.
In 2019, in fact, he was a finalist.
But they collided with Brazil in the Maracana (3-1).
Two years later: different game script, same luck.
BRA
1
-
0
PER
Brazil Ederson Moraes, Marquinhos, Danilo, Renan Augusto (Eder Militao, min. 84), Thiago Silva, Lucas Paquetá (Douglas Luiz, min. 91), Neymar, Everton (Everton Ribeiro, min. 69), Casemiro, Fred (Fabinho, min. 84) and Richarlison (Vinicius Junior, min. 84) Peru Pedro Gallese, Callens, Christian Ramos (Raziel García, min. 45), Miguel Trauco (Marcos Johan Lopez, min. 45), Anderson Santamaría, Aldo Corzo (Carlos Lora , min. 74), Christian Cueva (Santiago Ormeño, min. 80), Yoshimar Yotún, Renato Tapia (Martín Távara, min. 88), Sergio Peña and Gianluca Lapadula
Goals1-0 min.
34: Lucas Paquetá, yellow cards Yoshimar Yotún (min. 55), Vinicius Junior (min. 88) and Marcos Johan Lopez (min. 89)
Gareca sought the formula to counter the power of Brazil. He modified his system, but not the game idea. From a line of five defenders, the plan of the Argentine coach was to accumulate people in the central alley to group with the ball and place the sight on his only forward on the mat: Lapadula. Brazil, however, was multiplying without leather. Tite's boys would not let Peru breathe and Lapadula couldn't say a peep. Quite the opposite happened to Neymar. Marquinhos gave security and Casemiro order. Meanwhile, the PSG striker broke the security and order of Peru.
There are nights when it seems impossible for Neymar to lose the ball. He doesn't care if he plays for PSG or
Canarinha
, or if the grass is in perfect or bad condition. There are nights when Neymar can haggle even in his shadow. Richarlison looked for 10 into space. And, as soon as he touched the area, the PSG forward stepped on the ball, threw a pipe and left Paquetá alone. The goal came from the Lyon midfielder. The looks, how could it be otherwise, were taken by Neymar.
Gareca, in any case, was not willing to see how Brazil had fun with Peru. It changed again. After passing through the changing rooms, the Argentine coach sent Marcos López and Raziel García to the field for Ramos and Trauco. This time it worked out. Marquinhos was no longer so sure, nor Casemiro ordered the team. Then, the ball did not reach Neymar. The protagonism passed from 10 of the
Canarinha
to 9 from Peru.
Lapadula tipped off Ederson.
And Raziel García and Callens tried.
No Peruvian broke the resistance of the Manchester City goalkeeper.
Tite breathed and Gareca wailed.
Lapadula suffered and Neymar celebrated.
The São Paulo player is already assured of his presence in the Maracana final, the one he missed due to injury in the 2014 World Cup and the one he missed in the 2019 Copa América. In the Copa América, Brazil does not lose at home and Neymar will have his rematch.
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