Brazil edges Chile, set to face Peru in Copa America semifinal

Brazil booked their place in the semifinals of the 2021 Copa America with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chile in the quarterfinals of the tournament being held in Brazil. The Selecao will face Peru, who defeated Paraguay in a penalty shootout to book their place in the semifinals.

Chile were able to welcome back star forward Alexis Sanchez from his injury as he played his first match in the Copa America. The Inter Milan man played just the first 45 minutes of the encounter. Brazil’s Lucas Paqueta scored the lone goal in the game within seconds of coming on as a halftime sub for Roberto Firmino. Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus picked up a red card for a high kick after 48 minutes of the encounter. Brazil will face Peru in the semifinals of the tournament in a rematch of their group stage encounter which Brazil won 4-0.

Peru defeated Paraguay 4-3 on penalties after their match ended 3-3 at the end of extra time. Gustavo Gomez opened the scoring for Paraguay before equalising for Peru by scoring an own goal 10 minutes later. Gianluca Lapadula gave Peru the lead just before halftime, and Junior Alonso pulled Paraguay back level five minutes after the restart. Yoshimar Yotun gave Peru the lead with 10 minutes to go, and Gabriel Avalos scored in the final minute of the match to force extra time. Both teams finished with 10 men after Gustavo Gomez and Andre Carillo got sent off.