ClapFor the majority of nations, a 12-year gap without a trophy isn’t the most unusual thing in the world. In fact, even winning a trophy is considered to be a massive blessing – and even that may be an understatement. Alas, as we all know, Brazil isn’t just another nation.
They are the five-time world champions and as such, the fact that they haven’t won a trophy in that amount of time is considered to be a little bit strange. Thankfully for their millions upon millions of loyal fans, though, that statistic has now been broken after they beat Peru last night in the 2019 Copa America final as reported by BBC and The Guardian.
A valiant effort
Having already met with Peru in the group stages, it seemed like Brazil, who are considered to be the best ‘home’ side in world football, would easily be able to dispatch of them once again in the final. Alas, as we all know, that kind of logic never really works out in this game.
The man known as Everton was able to get the ball rolling early on for Brazil, after a nice setup from Gabriel Jesus. Brazil continued to put their foot down on the pedal and looked like the more dominant side, before a penalty equaliser just before half time from Peruvian legend Paolo Guerrero gave the underdogs hope.
Alas, it didn’t last all too long, as Jesus went from provider to goalscorer by giving the hosts the lead just moments before the half time whistle blew.
With 20 minutes remaining in the second half all signs were pointing towards a Brazil win, until Jesus was shown a second yellow card and they were reduced to ten men. Jesus clearly wasn’t happy with the decision as his emotions clearly showed, but thankfully, his tears were in vain as Richarlison scored a late penalty to ensure that Brazil walked away with the trophy.
What could’ve been
“I want to apologise,” he said later. “I could have avoided it and I also need to grow up a lot.”
While he may be right about needing to grow up, nobody in Brazil is going to care right now. This team feels like they are building something once again, and while the South American competition wasn’t really as strong as it has been in previous years, winning the trophy is still a huge sign of their intent as we look ahead tot he future.
They’ll now be looking ahead to next year’s competition which, after some deliberation, has been done in order to ensure that Copa America is now held in even years as opposed to odd.
If Brazil can retain their title then it’ll give them a huge burst of confidence heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup, because by the time that tournament rolls around, they wouldn’t have lifted the famous Jules Rimet Trophy for 20 years.
Either way, Brazilians will be dancing in the streets for a good while as they celebrate the return of winning ways for their national team.
