Rio de Janeiro: Brazil reached the Copa America final after the first goal of Lucas Paqueta – the second in two matches – gave them a 1-0 victory over Peru on Monday.
The hosted nation will play other Tuesday semi-final winners between Argentina and Colombia at the Decider at the Maracana Stadium on Saturday.
Brazil has won the Copa America every time they hosted the tournament and at the beginning of the match Monday showed exactly why they became a favorite to do it again.
In the first 20 minutes the Peruvian goalkeeper Pedro Gallese saved two points in sequence from Neymar and Richarlison plus two blocks when Casemiro tried his luck from the outside.
With Paqueta, who scored a winner in their 1-0 quarter-final victory over Chile, midfielder, Brazil played complicated and brave football, full of films, nutmeg, and backheel but needed their deadlock.
??? @neymarjr + @ @ lucaspaqueta97: Não é Replay! A dupla decidiu de novo e o Brazil Avança the finals! ? …
https://t.co/s3bnzqmttu- Copa América (@Copaamerica) 1625541464000ney beat three men on the left and cut the ball in the goal for Paqueta coming home from 10 meters.
“It’s a very difficult game, very difficult,” Paqueta said.
“They are a very strong side but we managed to make it through a difficult spell.” Neymar quickly sang praise his team and said there was more.
Come on.
“Paqueta is a great player, he is getting better with every match,” he added.
“He has a great season with his club and here he shows that he can be a very important player for Brazil.” # Copaamérica ?neymar, Paquetá, Casemiro: Brazil ?? Magia Pura e tiki-taka ✨⚽??? Brazil ? perú ?? …
https://t.co/RC9IKRQOWC- Copa América (@Copaamerica) 1625540023000 While Brazil is in the future in the opening period it is a different story in the second half as the introduction of Marcos Lopez and Raziel Garcia on the Break Shook Peruang wake up.
Losing finalists in 2019, Peru pushed ahead to look for an equalizer with Lapadula Gianluca forcing Ederson into the main block, with the Brazilian goalkeeper looking nervous on several other occasions.
Peru Pinned Brazil returned to a long spell from the second half but could not make their ownership count because the home team expanded their unbeaten to 13 matches.