Brazil on Monday missed a string of chances and were left to rue a lack of quality in the final third after they were held 0-0 by Costa Rica in their Copa America Group D opener in Los Angeles.
Brazil, who came into the Copa America on the back of a run of poor results, dominated possession, but lacked precision in front of goal with just three of their 19 shots on target.
“Now it’s about being honest with ourselves, creating alternatives to create chances, scoring, results are important in this competition, points left at the beginning can complicate things at the end,” Brazil defender Marquinhos said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
They were frustrated by a resolute five-man Costa Rican defense, who looked to contain their opponents and deprive them of space. The strategy paid dividends, even if Gustavo Alfaro’s side rode their luck at times.
Alfaro said Costa Rica had been written off before the match had even started.
“We were Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, where the only one that did not know he was dead was him, right?” he said through an interpreter. “Well, everyone thought we were dead before the movie started in our case.”
Raphinha had an excellent early opportunity to score after latching onto a long ball over the top from Rodrygo, but Costa Rica goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira came quickly off his line to snuff out the danger.
Brazil thought they had got the breakthrough in the 30th minute when a free-kick was flicked on by Rodrygo into the path of Marquinhos, who poked it in at the far post, but the goal was disallowed for offside after a lengthy video assistant referee delay.
The one-way traffic continued after halftime and Lucas Paqueta rattled the woodwork with a long-range effort in the 63rd minute, before a venomous Guilherme Arana strike was kept out by a fine save from Sequeira.
“We played a great game, we fought until the end. I had three chances myself, we were frustrated not to win, but we left with confidence, we fought,” Paqueta said. “We played our game, we have to improve our finishing, myself in particular and other players, so that we can win.”
Earlier, James Rodriguez evoked memories of his breakthrough performance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup after the Colombia midfielder set up both goals in his team’s 2-1 win over Paraguay in their Copa America opener.
After playing for the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Rodriguez joined Brazilian side Sao Paulo last year, making it his fourth club in as many seasons.
However, the Colombia captain was the difference in Monday’s Group D game in Houston, Texas, and was named player of the match.
“I’m very happy, it’s important to start well today against a tough opponent like Paraguay,” Rodriguez told Gol Caracol. “We could have done better in the second half, but you correct things better when the team wins, it’s much easier that way.”
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