After the disappointing start of Argentina, another tournament heavyweight and defending champions Brazil made a disappointing start to their Copa America campaign of 2011. Venezuela delivered a shock result after they managed to hold the five time world cup winners Brazil,to a goalless draw at the Ciudad de La Plata.
Brazil settle for a draw against Venezuela
The start studded Brazilian lineup weren’t able to break down Cesar Farias’ resilient Venezuela side in the Group B match of Copa America 2011. Brazil started the match lively and almost got the opening goal in the 1st minute when Robinho was released outside the box. Robinho’s shot was well saved by Renny Vega at the Venezuelan goal, who had a brilliant game between the sticks. Though Mano Menezes’ men had most of the position and looked more threatening but they just couldn’t find a way past the solid Venezuelan defence. Pato was causing Venezuelans problems and his shot at the half hour mark rattled the bar and went out. He tested Vega minutes later but the goalie was up for the challenge. Just minutes before the half time whistle Robinho slid a shot past Vega, and just when the Brazilians thought the ball was going in, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo blocked the shot with a well-timed lunge. The final attack of the first period saw Neymar squandering a glorious opportunity to score inside the box,as he blasted his shot high and wide.
The tempo of the game dropped in the second half as both teams looked to counter attack. Brazilians lacked urgency in their attacks and didn’t look like they are hungry for the full 3 points. Pato was being frustrated by the superb Vega at the Venezuela goal as he blocked every shot of the forward. The Brazilians made some changes in personnel but that didn’t affect the game much. At the fag end of the match Borussia Monchengladbach’s Juan Arango almost got the opener for Venezuela as he was free at the left side if the penalty box, but his shot went well wide. Brazil threw everything forward in the last few minutes of the game, but were unable to find the back of the net.
With both Brazil and Argentina failing to capitalize and make a good start to the tournament, the other teams should be looking to grab the opportunity to go top of the group. Brazil has a reputation of being slow starters but they improve and raise their game as tournament progresses. We hope that will be the case this time as well.
Tags: Brazil, Ciudad de La Plata, Copa America, Football, Venezuela
