California: At Levi's Stadium, Brazil played Colombia in the last Group Stage match. After a score of 1-1, Colombia became victorious in Group D, while the Selecao secured the second position.
Star player Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid will be absent for the team's quarterfinal match with record champions Uruguay due to a one-game suspension he got for receiving his second yellow card during the Group Stage.
Head Coach Dorival Jr spoke about Vini’s yellow card and how players will have to step up in his absence.
"It was very strange, the booking. It was the first challenge of the game. But people say we have to learn to play without our big stars, so now is the time. In certain moments, we won't have important players. We've already lost Neymar. It's a moment for other players to step up," said Dorival Jr in the post-game conference.
Brazil took the early lead in the game thanks to a brilliantly taken free kick by Raphinha in the 12th minute of the game. Colombia took their time to play themselves into the game and equalized at the 45+2 minute mark.
Brazil were also denied an opportunity to score their second after Vinicius Junior was fouled inside the box but the side was not awarded a penalty in a controversial decision. Dorival Jr took the time to mention that particular incident
“The referee was not decisive. Especially because, inside the stadium, only the VAR and he did not see the penalty, which was undoubtedly a penalty. It happened, there was no reaction from anyone. If the score had been a little higher, a little wider, the actions could have been different," added the Brazil Head Coach.
Colombia finishing top of the group resulted in the side being squared up against Panama in the quarter-final whereas Brazil will take on Uruguay on Sunday (IST)
With inputs from IANS