Copa America: Brazil Knocked Out At Group Stage In Controversial (Yet Still Fairly Rubbish) Circumstances

Chris Wright

13th, June 2016

5 Comments

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Brazil’s much-maligned 2016 vintage suffered the ignominy of being jettisoned at the group stage of the Copa America for the first time in 30 years after going down 1-0 against Peru last night.

In fairness, while Brazil’s performance was largely underwhelming, the defeat did come about in extremely controversial circumstances – Raul Ruidiaz quite clearly bundling the only goal of the game over the line with his hand/arm/thing in the 79th minute.

The officials duly took three minutes to deliberate over their decision before ruling that Ruidiaz’s finish was perfectly legal.

Speaking after the game, the Peruvian striker reportedly claimed: “It was a quick play, it hit me in the thigh”.

The result left Brazil in third place in Group B, with Peru and Ecuador qualifying for the knock-out phases in their stead. They were also the only team to concede a goal against tiny wee Haiti, though it did come in a 7-1 thrashing.

Given the overly negative, flaccid nature of the Selecao’s general approach, most of the post-match ire immediately and inevitably focused on their perennially unloveable coach Dunga, who defiantly stated that he “fears nothing but death” when asked if he was worried about being sent packing for the second time.

What a marvellous decision to re-appoint him in the first place, eh?

Posted in South America

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5 Comments

  1. A Nonny Moose says:

    Let’s be fair to Peru. They had a clear penalty not called in the first half, so Brazil had a decision in their favour, too.

  2. Connor says:

    Not to mention that Ecuador had a legitimate goal ruled out against Brazil in a 0-0 draw, so Brazil should have missed the knockouts anyway

  3. P says:

    They failed to score in 2 of 3 games. They didn’t deserve to go through. It’s not as though the ref’s poor decision ruined a Brazilian masterclass.

    Dunga should get fired. Brazil’s third string team could beat nearly anyone in the world. Sad that they chose to reinstate Dunga due to what happened at the last world cup. What a step backwards.

  4. Junior says:

    Dunga is as stupid as he’s arrogant. This combination would make me want to hit him in the head with a brick, if only I cared enough for the national team. I don’t, like the overwhelming majority of Brazilians nowadays. I’m just glad he only took one player (Elias) from my team, and didn’t take our right sideback (Fagner), who should clearly be in the team, as he’s the best in Campeonato Brasileiro and will likely be Dani Alves successor in Barcelona. That’s what the national team represents for most Brazilians nowadays, this useless thing that could mess up your team season by taking your best players, so they can embarrass themselves in front of the world, if they even get to play. If there’s a hell for stupid football coaches, he’s right in fearing death.

  5. Jarren says:

    Maybe they’ll hire Mourinho for WC 2022.

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