Brazil coach Dorival Júnior praised the performance of Vinícius Júnior after the forward scored twice to help the Seleção get back on track in the Copa América with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in Las Vegas on Friday.
Brazil and Vinícius struggled in the competition's opening match, a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica on Monday, in which the Real Madrid star failed to get a shot on goal and was substituted midway through the second half.
But against Paraguay he was very present from the beginning, and put Brazil ahead in the 35th minute with a low shot after an assist from Lucas Paquetá. After Sávio made it 2-0, Vinícius gave Brazil the third goal before the break, when he blocked Paraguayan defender Omar Alderete and deflected his attempted clearance into the net.
Vinícius could have scored a hat-trick but instead took a backseat, allowing Paqueta, who had missed a spot-kick in the first half, to step up and score a penalty in the second half.
“Today he played an almost perfect match,” Brazilian coach Dorival said of Vinícius through an interpreter. “He was dynamic.”
The goals were Vinícius' first non-penalty goal for Brazil since scoring against South Korea at the 2022 World Cup and his first multi-goal game in his 32nd appearance.
“I always say that I never play for myself, I always play for my team,” Vinícius said in an on-field interview after the match. “When I play for Brazil, I play for my country, I always try to do things as best as possible, but it is not always possible.
“And today I managed to play a great game at the level of a player that I am. And I know that I can still improve a lot to help the Brazilian team, to help this team that works hard every day to be able to put Brazil in the place it deserves. We will continue working hard to achieve this goal, which is to win the Copa America.”
The victory was a great response from Brazil after their disappointing start to the tournament in the United States and put the nine-time winners on the brink of a place in the quarter-finals.
With four points, Brazil is two behind group leaders Colombia, which defeated Costa Rica 3-0 on Friday. A win or draw for Brazil against Colombia on Tuesday secures it one of the group's two spots in the knockout phase. Brazil also has a six-goal differential advantage over Costa Rica, so a loss will likely not knock out the nine-time Copa America champions.
“There was a certain degree of disappointment with the lack of results in the first match,” Dorival said. “But I think our performance was of a high level. We have made great progress in a very short time. We rarely have 20 days to work together.”
“I told them to be patient because this team is on the right path.”
Information from Reuters, The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
