EPL Players at Copa America 2024 – Day 9
The second matchday of the tournament concluded with two games from group D: Colombia vs Costa Rica and Paraguay vs Brazil. As part of our EPLNews Copa America report, here is how Premier League players involved in the tournament performed.
Colombia 3-0 Costa Rica
After the high of getting a draw against Brazil in their first game, Costa Rica fell to a heavy defeat in the match against Colombia in Glendale. The result leaves Costa Rica with very little chance of reaching the knockouts.
It was a game dominated by Colombia, with Liverpool star Luis Diaz shining particularly brightly as he scored the first goal from the penalty spot and was a threat to Costa Rica’s defence for the entirety of the 77 minutes he spent on the pitch.
The other two Colombia goals were scored by ex-Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez, who also missed an open-goal header from a Diaz cross, and Jhon Cordoba.
Apart from Diaz, other Premier League players featured in this match for Colombia were Crystal Palace duo Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma, as well as Villa striker Jhon Duran off the bench. Costa Rica called upon Forest midfielder Brandon Aguilera, who had a poor game.
Clasificaciones
Colombia: Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace) – 8; Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace) – 7; Luis Diaz (Liverpool) – 8.5; Jhon Duran (Aston Villa) – 5.5
Costa Rica: Brandon Aguilera (Nottingham Forest) – 5.5
Paraguay 1-4 Brazil
The second game of day 9 saw Brazil get their tournament properly up and running with their first win, a 4-1 thumping of Paraguay in Las Vegas. The result also means that Paraguay are out of the Copa America.
Despite having seven shots on goal and keeping Alisson busy, Paraguay could only fashion mostly low quality chances, as their xG only amounted to 0.76 from all these efforts. By contrast, Brazil’s 4.25 xG came from six shots on target. Goals came from Vinicius Junior (2), Savio and West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta for Brazil, while Paraguay found the net through Omar Alderete early in the second half.
Paqueta was certainly in the spotlight throughout the 79 minutes he spent on the pitch. He missed a penalty, scored another one, and made a brilliant backheel assist for Vinicius Junior’s opener.
Apart from Paqueta, other EPL players featured in the game were Miguel Almiron and Julio Enciso for Paraguay, while Brazil fielded goalkeeper Alisson, Bruno Guimaraes, Joao Gomes, Douglas Luiz, Gabriel Magalhaes and Andreas Pereira, with the latter three off the bench. The Liverpool keeper had arguably the best game out of all these players, with Paqueta a close second.
Clasificaciones
Paraguay: Miguel Almiron (Newcastle) – 6.5; Julio Enciso (Brighton) – 6.5
Brazil: Alisson (Liverpool) – 8; Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle) – 6.5; Joao Gomes (Wolves) – 6.5; Lucas Paqueta (West Ham) – 8; Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) – 6; Andreas Pereira (Fulham) – 5.5; Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal) – N/A
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