Copa America Finals Predictions: Will Peru outcome Brazil?
Peru face mission impossible when they head to the iconic Maracana stadium to take on host nation Brazil in the Copa America final on Sunday. These teams met in the group stage of the tournament and the Brazilians picked up a resounding 5-0 victory. Goals from Casemiro, Roberto Firmino, Everton Soares, Everton Soares, Dani Alves and Willian left Peru thoroughly humiliated, and they will need to generate a drastic improvement if they are to turn the tables on Tite’s men.
A bookmaker review will point you to a strong, reputable betting site, and there you will see you Brazil are the clear favourites to go on and win this final. They began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Bolivia, as Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho banged in a brace. They were booed off the pitch after a listless 0-0 draw with Venezuela in their second game, but they bounced back by thrashing Peru 5-0 to top Group A with seven points.
They needed a penalty shootout to scrape through to the semis after a 0-0 draw with Paraguay, but they then delivered a strong 2-0 win over Argentina to advance to the final. Premier League duo Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino were on target and that win should give them plenty of confidence.
Peru could only draw 0-0 against the 10 men of Venezuela in their opening match. They followed it up with a 3-1 win over struggling Bolivia, but they were then annihilated by Brazil and finished third in Group A. They just about made it through to the quarter-finals, courtesy of having a better record than Japan, who finished third in Group C. They were fortunate to get past a strong Uruguay side, who were denied what looked like a clear goal by a questionable VAR decision. It finished 0-0, went to penalties and Peru prevailed.
They were expected to lose to a resurgent Chile in the semi-finals, but they exploded into life and won 3-0, with goals from Edison Flores, Yoshimar Yotun and Pablo Guerrero. They had just 34% of the possession, and Chile had far more shots on goal and on target, but Peru held on for a fine win.
Neymar has missed the tournament for Brazil due to injury, and their main attacking threat has come from Liverpool’s Firmino and his former teammate, Coutinho. Gabriel of Man City is also a lethal finisher, while Everton Soares and Willian have also been on target. Casemiro is a big loss for the Samba Boys after he suffered an injury. Fernandinho is already missing, which leaves Brazil without a holding midfielder. Yet they still kept a clean sheet against Lionel Messi and co in the last round, so his absence has not had an overly detrimental affect.
Peru’s starting 11 is devoid of star names, but they have a few solid players. Veteran striker Guerrero previously played for Bayern Munich and he now plies his trade for Internacional in Brazil. Yotun has done well for Cruz Azul in Mexico of late. They are a decent, experienced team, but this game looks like a total mismatch in terms of the respective quality of both sides. Brazil have world-class stars that regularly win some of the biggest trophies in world football. It is hard to see a single Peru player breaking into this Brazil squad.
The nature of Brazil’s victory in the group stages suggests that this will be a very one-sided contest. You would not expect quite such a thumping victory for the hosts, as nerves will set in a little, and Peru should be emboldened by their performance against Chile, but Brazil still have more than enough talent to saunter to victory in this game.
