Brazil coach takes responsibility for Copa America exit

Football giant Brazil was knocked out of the Copa America in the quarterfinals on Saturday evening after a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay. The Brazilians failed to muster a meaningful threat to a Uruguayan backline and team that has been excellent all tournament long.

The Uruguayans had only conceded once in all matches so far in their 3-1 win over Panama, while Brazil also struggled to score goals, having started the competition with a goalless draw against Costa Rica.

Although the Selecao scored five goals in the group stage, four of those were against Paraguay in a 4-1 win before a 1-1 draw with Colombia in the next match. Brazil’s head coach Dorival Junior had raised concerns about some key absences on his team after their opening game against Costa Rica, notably Neymar.

Unfortunately, the Brazilians were without Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior for Saturday’s fixture as they played out a 0-0 draw before losing 4-2 on penalties. However, Dorival Junior has taken full responsibility for the exit, accepting that the results were bad on a Brazilian standard.

“This type of work requires a great amount of patience. I do have to acknowledge that these weren’t the expected results, and I take full responsibility for them, but I do think as well that this team has great room to grow and evolve and improve,” said Dorival.

Uruguay moved to the semifinals for the first time since 2011, while Brazil won’t make the final of the Copa for the first time in three editions. The semifinal pairing will see the Uruguayans, led by Marcelo Bielsa, face Colombia on Tuesday while Argentina plays Canada.

Argentina won their quarterfinal against Ecuador on penalties after a 1-1 draw, while Canada did a similar feat to get past Venezuela to make it to the semifinals. The Canadians hope to make the finals for the first time, but they face a daunting task against the world champions on Tuesday.