Copa America 2019: Brazil 3-1 Peru - 3 Talking Points

#2 Peru gave as much as they got

Brazil v Peru: Final - Copa America Brazil 2019

At the commencement of the 2019 Copa America, few if any would have given Peru any chance of making an impact at the tournament, much less going all the way.

Los Incas entered the tournament as the 20th ranked team in the world and sixth best in South America and given the presence of more illustrious heavyweights like Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, anyone would have been forgiven for thinking that Peru were just in the competition to make up the numbers.

The fact that they only squeezed through from the group stage as one of the best losers further emphasized that point, but if tournament football has shown us anything over the years, it is that football is a game where anything can happen.

Peru showed great grit and determination in forcing extra time against record winners Uruguay in the quarterfinal, going on to eliminate Los Celeste on penalties before producing another shock by knocking out two-time defending champions Chile in the semifinal by a 3-0 scoreline.

This set up a clash with hosts Brazil and it was a highly daunting prospect, given that the Samba Boys would be buoyed by a partisan crowd of almost 80,000 while Brazil had also thumped Peru 5-0 in the group stage.

Anyone expecting a repeat scoreline was in for a shock, as Peru came out of the blocks flying and went behind against the run of play when Everton Soares put Brazil ahead in the 15th minute.

They showed great resilience to pull one back through Guerrero and had their opponents on the back foot for some parts of the game and the stats illustrate just how well they played, with Peru having 46% of the possession while also fashioning a total of nine shots at the Brazilian goal.

Even though they ultimately failed in their quest for Copa glory, Peru leave with their heads held high and can pat themselves on the back for a job well done.