On the night of Thursday to Friday (2 hours French time), an enticing Brazil-Peru, remake of the last Copa America final (won 3-1 by the Brazilians), takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Rio. Beyond the issue, one of the questions to ask is whether sport can ignore the Covid-19, three days after the start of a competition which is already exploding the number of positive cases.
The day before the initial whistle, the Conmebol, South American football confederation, revealed that 13 members of the Venezuela team, beaten (0-3) in the inaugural match by Brazil, were contaminated. Four were also confirmed in that of Bolivia, and two had been confirmed among the Colombians.
53 identified cases
On Tuesday, Brazil’s health ministry gave a total of 41 people who tested positive for coronavirus among all delegations participating in the tournament. This Wednesday, the number rose to 53 cases, including 27 players or members of delegations and 26 within service providers engaged for the event. The Peruvian delegation also announced that his physical trainer himself tested positive on Tuesday. Brazil is ravaged by the pandemic (nearly 495,000 deaths since the start of it), and the number of daily disappearances continues to increase (2,997 new deaths, against 2,468 in the previous report). The largest South American country is thus the most bereaved in recent days, ahead of India (2,330).
The one in the field is much happier. Victorious over Venezuela, with a goal from Marquinhos and a penalty from Neymar, the Brazilians have the opportunity to push Peru a little further, which has not yet played. They share the lead of Pool A with Colombia, who defeated (1-0) Ecuador, and who play the Venezuelans, this Thursday evening (23 hours).
In Pool B, Paraguay, winner (3-1) of Bolivia, leads the dance, ahead of Argentina and Chile who failed to decide (1-1), despite the opening of the scoring of Messi. The Chileans will face Bolivia this Friday (11 p.m.), followed by Argentina – Uruguay (2 hours).
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