Hosts and defending champions Brazil have made a successful start in the Copa America. The team around soccer superstar Neymar won the opening game of the South American Championship on Sunday against Venezuela at the Mane Garrincha stadium in Brasilia 3-0 (1-0). The goals came from defender Marquinhos after a corner kick from Neymar (23rd), Neymar with a penalty (64th) and Gabriel Barbosa (89th).
Brazil’s national team achieved their eighth win in a row, without conceding a goal for the seventh time. Brazil has won all of the five Copa America held in its own country so far.
After positive corona tests from around a dozen of its delegation members – among them eight players – Venezuela brought 15 new players in an emergency at short notice. “I’m proud of these guys,” said Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro after the game. “Everyone knew the difficulties, we couldn’t do more.”
Then Colombia came to a 1-0 win against Ecuador. Edwin Cardona (42nd) scored the goal of the day in Cuiaba. Before the encounter, two delegation members tested positive for the corona virus in Colombia, the third Copa participant after Venezuela and Bolivia.
In the last month before the start of the tournament, Colombia and later Argentina jumped off as the host of the 47th South American Championship, which was postponed by a year. As a result, the South American Football Association moved the Copa America to Brazil, which led to widespread criticism. In Brazil, almost 17.4 million people have contracted the coronavirus, and more than 486,000 people have died in connection with Covid-19.
(APA/dpa/sda)
Article image: Imago
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