It’s done and dusted. Despite occasional bumps along the way and no Neymar, Brazil did the expected and won their ninth Copa América, extending their perfect record as hosts in the process.
It’s a win with big implications for the team and its coach, so this will be the first of two articles on the campaign. This time, we’ll break down the performance. Next time, a look at what’s next.
Four wins, two draws, thirteen goals for, one against. A better goal difference than our 2004 or 2007 wins, more different goalscorers (eight) than we’ve had in any Copa America since 1997. The tournament’s top scorer (Everton Cebolinha), best player (Dani Alves), and best goalkeeper (Alisson). At home, Brazil was always expected to win, but Neymar’s injury just before the tournament put that in doubt, and it made for an occasionally bumpy ride to the trophy. Here are the best and worst things I saw from this team.
The Good
- Impeccable defending. This team set a record before the final even kicked off: the first Brazil side to ever reach a major tournament final without conceding a goal. (The Olympic side did it in 2016 as well; worth noting that Marquinhos was a starter for both teams.) The questionable penalty against Thiago Silva meant we didn’t keep a clean sheet through the tournament (and that Alisson’s impressive run without conceding for club and country ended just shy of 900 minutes), but that shouldn’t take away from one of Brazil’s most defensively assured performances ever at a major tournament. The question now is whether that can carry over once Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, and company leave the picture in the near future—but it’s a question I’ll address in part two.
- Beautiful goals. It’s an odd quirk of Tite’s Brazil that it rarely produces a huge number of goalscoring chances, yet frequently scores spectacular goals. This month, we had several to enjoy, from bursts of individual brilliance to long-range screamers to intricate passing plays. Scroll down to vote for your favorite.
- Mentality. There was a belief and ferocity in the players that Brazil has too often lacked. Time and again we saw players digging deep for that little extra bit of effort or focus: Arthur sprinting back to break up a last-minute Paraguayan counterattack, Gabriel Jesus pushing through an injury to surge through Argentina’s defense, Everton ripping apart the opposition in the dying moments of the final. We saw a team that kept bringing the ball forward when being down a man or at risk of a game-killing counter, confident not only that the defense would hold, but that the rest of the team was good enough to keep the ball and avoid the need to defend.
- Combination play in midfield. Tite is hardly a paragon of Jogo Bonito, but after three years in charge of Brazil, his love of team cohesion is paying dividends. We saw plenty of beautiful, one-touch passing play in the midfield and occasionally in the attack as well. This team still lacks a killer, incisive passer, so these moves usually resulted in breaking opposition pressure rather than setting up a clear chance, but it’s an encouraging sign for the future.
- The Paraguay curse is lifted. At the third time of asking, we finally beat Paraguay on penalties in the Copa América quarterfinals. It’s silly that this could even be a curse, but this team deserves credit for standing tall where Mano Menezes’ and Dunga’s teams crumbled.
- Good tactical adjustments. After his decision to stick with a misfiring XI cost us a shot at the World Cup last year, Tite was much quicker to change things that weren’t working this time around. The key change to the lineup came after two group stage games, when he swapped Richarlison and David Neres for Gabriel Jesus and Everton Cebolinha, a move that added much-needed pace and gave Dani Alves the defensive cover to operate more freely in attack. Beyond that, it was also encouraging to see Tite stick with Alex Sandro in the final games rather than risk putting the half-fit Filipe Luís into the lineup. Something tells me that a year ago, he might have gone for his old stalwart rather than keep the (relative) newcomer in the lineup.
The Bad
- Dealing with physicality and pressing. It’s no coincidence that Brazil’s worst attacking performances came against aggressive, compact defenses, and that our worst midfield performances came against teams that aggressively harried the person on the ball. Casemiro was the only six-foot-tall non-defender in the squad, and that lack of size and strength was an occasional problem. That said, it’s not like player size was the root cause; Casemiro himself was often a weak link when pressed, and Firmino, our biggest forward, was far less capable of holding off defenders and keeping the ball than the smaller Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus. But certain players really suffered physically, particularly Firmino and Coutinho, and I have to question Tite’s decision to keep them in the lineup for the entire tournament.
- Breaking down defenses: Throughout the tournament, we were noticeably more threatening in attack after we’d already scored. Teams knew that their best chance of getting a result against Brazil was to sit deep and frustrate. Of those that did, we only found an opening goal against Bolivia, and that was thanks to a somewhat dubious penalty. Against Paraguay and Venezuela, we weren’t so lucky. In the end, it didn’t cost us, but along with the broader issue of physicality, it’s at the top of the list of issues Tite will need to address in the coming months.
Player Ratings
Alisson: He didn’t have a whole lot to do behind such a quality defense, but he was impeccable when called upon. His high point had to be the quarterfinal against Paraguay, where he made his best open-play save of the tournament and then opened the penalty shootout with a tone-setting stop on Gustavo Gómez. He only faced nine shots on target all tournament long, which keeps his rating down, but he dominated his area, coming out well to claim cross after cross and never giving the opposition an opening when playing out of the back. 7.5
Dani Alves: Where did that come from? After spending most of his career flattering to deceive in a yellow jersey, Alves came back at age 36 after missing a whole year’s worth of games due to a knee injury and had the best tournament of his Brazil career, clinching his record 40th career title in the process. Defensively, he was impeccable(!); as the captain, he helped the team keep their heads when they were under pressure; going forward, he was instrumental to some of Brazil’s best moments, including scoring one of the goals of the tournament against Peru and eviscerating the Argentine midfield to set up the first goal of the semifinal. About all you can really fault him for is that his crossing and set-piece delivery too often didn’t get past the first man. Deservedly named the best player of the whole tournament. 9.0
Thiago Silva: Recovered from a knee injury to play every minute of the tournament, and aside from the dubious penalty he gave away in the final, was pretty much perfect. Did his work with little fuss, such that he never needed to pull off any great heroics. Only one criticism: what is it with him and handling the ball in important knockout games? 8.0
Marquinhos: If Thiago Silva was essentially perfect, Marquinhos might have been even better. He went the entire group stage without needing to make a tackle, and then the entire knockout phase without letting anybody dribble past him. Put in a particularly noble shift against Argentina while suffering from nasty food poisoning. 8.5
Miranda: Appeared only for half an hour against Argentina after Marquinhos took ill—not enough time to earn a rating, but more than enough to beat Sergio Agüero in a footrace. N/R
Éder Militão: Debuted late in the final, replacing Coutinho after Brazil went down to ten men. Helped the team hang on, but didn’t have enough time to get rated. N/R
Filipe Luís: While the 33-year-old offered a lot of class from left-back, and made some big contributions to the build-up play, he really showed his age at times, slipping defensively on several occasions and struggling to get forward like he used to. He came off injured halfway through the quarterfinal and never returned. 6.5
Alex Sandro: Finally got a chance to show what he could do in a big game for Brazil, taking over the left-back role for essentially the entire knockout phase. That said, he didn’t really set himself apart from Filipe Luís; what he added in pace, stamina, and overlapping runs was largely offset by not being as useful in building plays from deep. 6.5
Casemiro: An irregular tournament from the enforcer. Was occasionally excellent with his passing and tackling, and scored his first-ever Brazil goal in the 5-0 win over Peru, but was shaky more often than not. He repeatedly coughed up possession with shaky passing, his tackling and fouling often played with fire, and opponents were repeatedly able to play around him. 5.0
Fernandinho: Substituted the injured Arthur in the opener and came on in the second half against Venezuela, where he hurt his knee, and didn’t come onto the pitch again after that. Decent in his two appearances, assisting Everton’s goal against Bolivia and coming close several times to opening the scoring against Venezuela, and backing it up with better tackling numbers than Casemiro. 6.0
Allan: Replaced Casemiro against Paraguay and did enough to hold off the rare opposition attacks. Came on late against Argentina to shore up the defense and kill off the game. Did his job well but unspectacularly, aside from his passing accuracy, which far exceeded that of Casemiro and Fernandinho. 6.0
Arthur: The glue that held the midfield together. Did his usual thing where he holds onto the ball despite immense pressure and always appears in a good position to receive a pass. Genuine highlights include his sprint back to stop a last-second Paraguay counter in the quarterfinal and his run and pass to set up Gabriel Jesus for the winning goal in the final. On the flipside, he still has to improve his penetrative passing, he seems to have an issue with flailing his elbows around, which gave opponents an opening to exaggerate contact and draw fouls and cards off him, and he struggles against physicality and pressing. He had a noticeably harder time in the semifinal and final because of it. 7.0
Philippe Coutinho: In Neymar’s absence, he essentially received carte blanche to take the reins of the team, impose himself, and put his dreadful Barcelona form behind him… and he didn’t really take the chance. He was brilliant in moments, and made several important contributions, but never took over or controlled games like we really needed him to. He struggled immensely against teams that pressed him or challenged him physically, and even when he had the space to pull off a quality dribble, his execution or decision-making let him down. This was most evident in the final, when he wriggled out of pressure several times, only to repeatedly go for the shot when Gabriel Jesus was wide open and could have killed the game. 6.0
Lucas Paquetá: Played only about ten minutes against Paraguay as Brazil chased a late winner. Not enough to get a rating, but Coutinho’s inconsistent performances definitely left the door open for Paquetá to get a bigger role in the future. N/R
Everton Cebolinha: It’s been a while since anyone has genuinely broken through as a star for Brazil in a major tournament like Everton did. Came off the bench excellently in the first two games, scoring a beauty against Bolivia and dribbling through half the Venezuelan team to set up what should have been the winning goal if not for an iffy VAR call. After winning a starting spot, he continued in style with another long-range strike against Peru. Dipped a bit in the knockout stages, shooting very poorly against Paraguay and barely seeing the ball before being yanked at half-time against Argentina, but returned in style in the final, coolly opening the scoring before tearing through the Peruvian defense to win the game-clinching penalty. The question now may not be whether he’ll get to play once Neymar returns, but whether the two of them can play together. 8.5
Roberto Firmino: The most maddening player on the team, and the hardest to rate. On paper, with two goals and three assists, he was one of Brazil’s best players, but the eye test told a very different story. He was played as a true number 9, and when he had to do a striker’s job, he was dreadful—completely useless for hold-up play, as a physical presence in the box, or when he had to control the ball or turn in tight spaces. When he had his back to goal, Brazil were essentially playing with ten men. And yet, he made big contributions at several key moments, including a goal and assist against Argentina and the tackle that set up the winning goal against Peru. But even so, I can’t help but feel he’s becoming to this team what Dani Alves was to so many Brazil sides of the past: a great player who’s simply out to lunch when asked to perform a different function than he does for his club. Maybe he’ll end up with a similar redemption story to Alves. 6.0
Gabriel Jesus: Had an absolute roller coaster of a tournament. After coming on as a sub to little effect in the first two games, started on the right wing against Peru, a tactical switch that brought much-needed balance to the side. His energy and physicality on both sides of the ball stretched opposition defenses and provided vital cover for Dani Alves, allowing the veteran to get forward more comfortably. But Jesus continued to struggle for end product, missing a penalty against Peru and presentable chances against Paraguay. Taking and scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout seemed to renew his confidence, though, and he was the unquestioned hero of the final two games, scoring two goals and providing two excellent assists. Aaaaand then he got a red card in the final just to complete the cycle. Still, this tournament reestablished him as a star of this team. 8.0
David Neres: Screwed by Tite’s setup, Neres was played mostly on the left side and quickly lost his starting spot because of it. Still, poor execution cost him when he did have opportunities to make a difference, most notably the presentable chances he missed against Venezuela. Never saw the pitch again after that. 5.0
Willian: I would not have complained in the slightest had Tite been fired on the spot for calling up Willian as Neymar’s replacement, but, in fairness, the Chelsea man had a pretty decent tournament. He scored a wonderful goal against Peru and hit the post in the dying seconds against Paraguay before scoring the first goal of the penalty shootout. He was pretty anonymous in his other appearances, and I still hope this is the last we see of him for Brazil, but if it is, it was a fine way for him to go out. 6.5
Richarlison: Yanked for Firmino halfway through the second game, a change I still think was unjust. Richarlison was really the only functioning part of a misfiring attack in the first two games, winning space for Brazil high up the field with pure physicality. It’s a shame we never got to see him in the center with Jesus on the right. Perhaps it might have happened had he not come down with mumps before the Paraguay game. He returned to the pitch in the final, holding up the ball and running down the clock, before coolly firing in the penalty that secured the win. 7.0
Unused substitutes: Ederson, Cássio, Fagner
Speaking of those beautiful goals… here are the ones that stood out to me. Scroll down to vote for your favorite!
Best Goals of the Tournament
Everton Cebolinha vs. Bolivia
Roberto Firmino vs. Peru
Dani Alves vs. Peru
Willian vs. Peru
Gabriel Jesus vs. Argentina
Roberto Firmino vs. Argentina
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