Costa Rica defied Brazil’s wealth of possession to hold the Copa America giants to a shock nil-all draw in their Group D opener in Los Angeles.
Brazil had won 10 of the 11 previous meetings between the sides, and that trend looked set to continue as Brazil took the weight of possession from the opening whistle.
Costa Rica’s defence held solid for the first quarter of the match, with Brazil struggling to break down their opponents’ defensive lines.
Brazil’s first proper chance finally came in the 25th minute, when Raphinha found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat but was unable to escape a desperate defensive effort from Patrick Sequeira.
With all the momentum, Brazil continued to pepper the Costa Rica goal, Lucas Paqueta missing from close range before the pressure looked to have paid off in the 29th minute when Marquinhos found the back of the net off a corner.
However, Costa Rica were granted a sigh of relief when VAR ruled he was offside.
Brazil remained camped on Costa Rica’s goal for the rest of the half, but were unable to claim a breakthrough despite taking a 75% favourable weight of possession into half-time.
The second half started much the same as the first ended, with Brazil increasingly desperate to find a route through Costa Rica’s defence.
Raphinha again came close to breaking the deadlock in the 59th minute but was unable to strike home after the ball ricocheted off the Costa Rica defence in the box.
The substitution for Brazilian wunderkind Endrick to a raucous reception in the 70th minute looked to give Brazil the spark it needed to get across the line, but Costa Rica refused to go away quietly.
The draw was ultimately sealed when Bruno Guimaraes’s last-gasp strike barely eclipsed the cross-bar, leaving both sides to claim a point.
