Brazil and Uruguay's joy and sorrow in the quarterfinals of the Copa America may have already been divided before the penalty shootout.
The Spanish daily Marca compared the videos of the two teams meeting ahead of the penalty shootout after 120 minutes, including overtime, in the 2024 Copa America quarterfinals between the two teams at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on the 7th (Korea time).
Brazil shockingly referred to coach Doribau Junior 'skip'. In the video, Doribau is snooping outside without being able to get inside the circle that the players have drawn up. He raises his hand to express his opinion, but he doesn't listen. Marca said "Doribau was ignored!," he wrote.
This is a reasonable suspicion that the players discussed the order of the penalty shootout. There is a possibility that the coach instead notified the players of the order of the penalty shootout, but even so, it is not easy to see the coach hanging around outside the circle. You can get a glimpse of Doribau's usual influence within the team.
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The atmosphere of the Uruguay meeting was 180 degrees different. The Uruguayan coach Marcelo Bielsa informed the players of the instructions as he looked at the notes in the middle of the circle. It seems to have delivered the order of the penalty shootout. When Bielsa called defender Sebastian Cáceres (America), teammates around Cáceres reacted by caressing Cáceres' head. Compared to Brazil, the feeling of 'one team' was stronger.
Uruguay started with the first kicker, Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), and Rodrigo Bentancourt (Tottenham) and Hiorhian de Arascaeta (Flamengo) scored one after another. On the other hand, Brazil's first and third kickers Gabriel Militão (Real) and Douglas Luiz (Juventus) made fatal misses. Uruguay eventually won the semi-finals with a 4–2 penalty shootout score.
Uruguay will play Colombia in the Copa semifinals on the 11th. The winner of the match will compete in the final against the winner of the Argentina-Canada.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
