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Brazil are officially the winners of the 2019 Copa America having defeated Peru 3-1 in a keenly contested final at the mystical Estadio Maracana.
The hosts had entered the tournament as heavy favorites and dispatched of their biggest rivals Argentina in the semifinal, before seeing off Peru in the showpiece event to win South America's premier continental trophy for the ninth time in their history and first since 2007.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Everton and Richarlison were enough to give the Samba Boys victory while Paolo Guerrero grabbed the solitary goal for Peru. In this piece, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the 46th Copa America final.
#3 Gabriel Jesus shines brightly
Gabriel Jesus has long been regarded as one of the most exciting young prospects in the world following his displays with Palmeiras in his native Brazil.
However, ever since arriving at Manchester City in January 2018, the 22-year-old has seen his ratings drop, as he has struggled to cement a starting spot with the Premier League champions with Pep Guardiola showing a preference for Sergio Aguero leading the line.
Jesus has however maintained a decent goalscoring record despite his limited chances, scoring a total of 45 goals from 99 matches in all competitions for Manchester City and was one of the men Brazil was counting on to lead the line in Neymar's absence.
Having failed to make much of an impact in the group stages, Gabriel Jesus sparked to life in the knockout rounds, providing inspiration with his tireless running to hassle the Paraguayan backline in the quarterfinals.
He was undoubtedly the star of the show in the semifinal victory over Argentina, as he contributed a goal and an assist to ensure Messi's wait for international glory continues.
In the final, he continued from where he left off against the Albiceleste, needing just 15 minutes to play a part in the opening goal as he showed great composure and technique to set up his teammate Everton for his third goal of the tournament.
Having seen Peru net an equalizer late in the first half to put Brazil on edge, Gabriel Jesus was once more on hand to hand his nation the initiative, putting his side ahead in the third minute of injury time to send Brazil into the break with a lead.
There were tears in the tunnel as Gabriel Jesus was handed a red card to cap off what was a brilliant performance, but having played his part in Brazil's triumph, it is guaranteed that those tears would have given way to broad smiles at the final whistle.
#2 Peru gave as much as they got
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.
#1 The future looks bright for Brazil
In a football-obsessed nation like Brazil, success at international tournaments is seen as almost their birthright and anything other than this is seen as monumental failures.
It is with the weight of this expectation that every young boy dreams of donning the famous yellow of the Samba Boys and while not every child gets to fulfill their childhood fantasy, those who do are expected to discharge their abilities to the fullest.
However, for all of their traditional history, the last decade has not exactly been the brightest for the national team of Brazil, with an Olympic Gold medal and Confederations Cup triumph being all they could boast of prior to their Copa win.
The current squad is one littered with an abundance of young talent and it is on the backbone of this young squad that Tite has built his Copa America winning team.
Relatively unheralded players like Everton, Richarlison, David Neres, Gabriel Jesus and Arthur Melo have blended in with more seasoned legs like Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Filipe Luiz, and the likes, with the result being that the Brazilian team is one which has the perfect balance of youth and experience.
Everton Soares was undoubtedly the breakout star of the competition and is bound to have swayed a few heads with his displays in anticipation of a much-deserved move to Europe.
Arthur continued with his impressive displays in the middle of the park, while Gabriel Jesus and David Neres continued their massive developments. Richarlison was hampered by a case of mumps, but still starred on the occasions when he appeared.
Even the more seasoned internationals like Thiago Silva and Daniel Alves also proved their worthwhile Philippe Coutinho put his disappointing Barcelona form to inspire his nation to glory and Alisson was unbeatable as usual between the sticks.
While Brazil might have underperformed on the biggest stages in recent years, on evidence of their displays at the Copa America, the future is indeed very bright.
