90th minute strike from Fluminense striker Fred gave Brazil a hard fought draw at Cordoba. Fred denied Paraguay a famous victory against Brazil, in a group B encounter. Jadson’s early goal was canceled out by Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Valdez gave Paraguay the lead but Fred stepped up from the bench to score a precious equalizer.
Fred saves the day for Brazil
Paraguay started the game brightly and winger Marcelo Estigarribia forced a save from Julio Cesar within a minute. The Newell’s Old Boys winger was very productive throughout the game providing width to Paraguay’s play and also putting good crosses in from the wing. Brazil on the other hand lacked urgency in their play and were dependent on individual brilliance rather than a team effort.
Paraguay should have taken the lead in the 2nd minute when Lucas Barrios threaded the ball to his strike partner Roque Santa Cruz, but he blazed over. Santa Cruz only had Julio Cesar between him and the goal and it was an embarrassing miss from the top goal getter of Paraguay. Paraguay continued to press and worked hard to win the ball back. After the glorious start the game started to lose pace and intensity and the Brazil fans started to voice their concerns.
Jadson was included in the team in place of Robinho and he was their most influential player in the 1st half. After some patient build up play Jadson received the ball at the edge of the box and he took the opportunity in some style. Jadson placed the ball precisely to the left of Justo Villar to grab his 1st international goal on 38 minutes. The halftime scoreline was 1-0 in favour of the Brazilians.
Mano Menezes made a tactical blunder by substituting Brazil’s best player of the 1st half Jadson at half time. Elano came on in his place and failed to make any headway. Brazilians looked all over the place and struggled to find any rhythm in their play. Pato, Neymar both failed to create anything as they were man marked and bullied at the pitch. The absence of a target man like Ronaldo, Adriano or Fabiano was evident in Brazil’s play cause they hardly made use of the wings to deliver telling crosses in the box. Paraguay made full use of Brazil’s erratic display and Santa Cruz redeemed himself on 55th minute by slotting home a pass from Torres. Paraguay substitute Nelson Valdez had luck on his side when his deflected shot went in on 67th minute. Paraguay had a firm grip on the game and Brazilians had no answers and looked out of sorts.
Mano Menezes made his last throw of the dice by bringing in Fred 10 minutes before the end of the game and boy he made some impact. With the clock ticking 90 minutes Fred received a pass from Ganso, he swiveled in between two defenders and coolly stroked the ball pass Villar. Fred’s strike broke Paraguayans hearts to earn Brazil a precious point.
With another lackluster display Brazil have to raise their game against Uruguay which they have to win to ensure qualification. Brazil and Paraguay both have 2 points from their 2 Group B games. Venezuela or Ecuador can go top of the group if anyone manages to win at Salta.
Tags: Brazil, Copa America, Football, Fred, Paraguay, Striker
