Copa America 2015: Brazil 2-1 Venezuela - 5 talking points

Brazil will face Paraguay in the quarter-finals of the Copa America after Thiago Silva and Roberto Firmino scored in each half to defeat Venezuela. Silva opened the scoring inside 10 minutes as he volleyed home from a corner taken by Robinho, who started in place of the suspended Neymar.Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Carlos Dunga’s side had to wait until the second half for the second goal. Firmino tucked home Willian’s cross to make it 2-0 and although Miku scored in the 84th minute, it was nothing more than a consolation as Venezuela were knocked out of the tournament.Here are 5 the major talking points from the game.

#1 Strange game of football

Brazil capitalized when Venezuela attacked when all they needed was a draw

A night that began with a distinct possibility of Brazil being knocked out of the tournament, ended with the Selecao playing with four central defenders and having to resort to time-wasting tactics after dominating the match, to go through to face Paraguay in the quarter-finals. In between, the football verged on the sublime to the ridiculous.

Despite the absence of Neymar, Brazil created plenty of chances and should have extended their lead by even more before Miku scored what turned out to be a consolation goal. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the match was how Venezuela approached a game from which they only needed a draw to go through.

From sitting deep and attacking on the break in the first half, they pushed plenty forward after the interval and paid the price by conceding what turned out to be the decisive goal early in the second half.

#2 Willian fills Neymar\'s void

Willian provided the assist for Brazil’s winner

One of the biggest question marks surrounding Brazil, following Neymar’s suspension, was who would take over and orchestrate the attack. With Robinho making his first appearance in the tournament and Philippe Coutinho starting his first game since his return from injury, Willian took the onus and had one of his best games in a Brazil shirt despite looking as though he didn’t even get out of second gear.

The 26-year-old looked in cruise control as he used his blistering pace to great effect and get in behind the defence to constantly tee up his teammates for a pop at goal. His cross that set up Firmino’s goal exemplified the amount of time he seemed to enjoy on the ball in a game in which both sides pressed high up the pitch.

#3 Venezuela dig their own grave

Venezuela needed only a draw to qualify

When you are up against a side who have much better players than you do, the first thing you must do to have any chance of upsetting the odds is to be resolute and organised. Noel Sanvicente’s side completely forgot about that when they let Brazil’s best player the time and space to score only his fourth goal for his country.

Not only were they slack at defending set pieces, but they also consistently gave the ball away in attack and invited pressure onto themselves by passing the ball too much in defence.

Despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Alain Baroja, their naïve tactics of going all gung-ho far too early, ended up costing them what might have been a place in the last eight of what has so far been a topsy-turvy tournament.

#4 Robinho provides cohesion in attack

This was Robinho’s first game in the tournament

Ever since the World Cup, Brazil’s biggest problem has been Neymar. While there is little doubt about his quality, the side rely so much on him that the attack at times is unbalanced. Without him, the team has suffered.

But the presence of Robinho, whose inclusion was ridiculed by many, provided the attack a lot more balance and made Brazil function as a team. The 31-year-old Santos forward injected some much-need energy and creativity into the Brazil attack and also removed the shackles off Willian, who benefitted most from his presence.

His addition also improved the side’s set-piece threat and it was his corner that led to the opening goal. But arguably the best thing about Robinho’s performance was his maturity.

On a number of occasions, after bedazzling the Venezuelan defence with a series of stepovers, he took his time to pick out his teammates rather than irresponsibly shoot at goal.

#5 How far can Brazil go?

Brazil came back with a bang after the loss to Colombia

Brazil played their best game of the tournament without their best player, who is suspended for the rest of the tournament. Yet, despite dominating possession and creating enough chances to have scored at least a few goals, the fragility Brazil displayed at the back in the final five minutes was proof that Dunga still has a lot of work to do to get this side

Brazil’s 11-game winning run came to an end against Colombia in the previous game, but if the Selecao are to have any chance of winning the tournament, they will need to play like they did in the first 80 minutes of this match and be more clinical with their chances.

But with a potential semi-final against Argentina on the horizon, one can’t help but feel echoes of the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup in which they staggered and stumbled their way to the semis before being humbled by a good side.