Football: Brazil reach final without honour
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE DEFENDING champions, Brazil, beat Mexico 2-0 here on Wednesday to reach the Copa America final with a mechanical performance which betrayed their reputation for flair and had nothing to do with Pele's so-called "beautiful game."
Brazil scored twice in the first half of the semi-final, concentrated most of their efforts on stopping opponents from creating and, on a sad day for football, played the last 10 minutes with only one recognised striker.
As in their quarter-final win over Argentina, the Brazilians depended on a couple of isolated moments of inspiration to settle the match, Amoroso and Rivaldo scoring the goals as they finished well-constructed moves. Otherwise, they packed their midfield and did not hesitate to break the rules to stop their opponents. The destructive Brazilians committed 19 fouls, nearly twice as many as the Mexicans.
Brazil have reached their third successive Copa final and will meet Uruguay in Asuncion on Sunday, hoping to avenge their 1995 penalty shoot-out defeat to the same team. "We came here to win the competition and we've reached the final," said their defiant coach, Wanderley Luxemburgo.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments