Few times in the history of the America Cup A team has had such overwhelming dominance as that achieved by Brazil during the Copa América Bolivia 1997.
The ‘verdeamarella’ came to the tournament with figures such as Ronaldo, Romario, Roberto Carlos, Dunga and Cafu among many others and did not disappoint, lifting the trophy in dominant fashion.
This edition of the Copa América was full of ‘first times’. For the first time in history a local team was defeated in the grand final. Bolivia succumbed with a score of 3 – 1 in the final game, so they had to settle for a very decent silver medal.
For its part, this was the first time in the history of the continental tournament that Brazil managed to win the title playing away from homeso it can be said that this was the redemption of ‘La Canarinha’ in the Copa América.
Finally, Costa Rica was invited to participate in the tournament for the first time in history. Once again, the Copa América had 12 teams, since in addition to the ‘ticos’, Mexico was invited for the third time.
Brazil’s path was simply overwhelming. They won all six matches they played and accumulated a goal difference of +19, the result of 22 goals scored and only three conceded.
The ‘verdeamarela’ debuted with a 5-0 win over Costa Rica in a match corresponding to Group C. They then had their closest match of the tournament in which they won 3-2 against Mexico and finally closed out their participation in the group stage by beating Colombia 2-0.
In the quarterfinals, Brazil beat Paraguay 2 – 0 and then obtained a scandalous victory in the semifinals, beating their counterpart from Peru 7 – 0. Thus they reached the grand final with the label of favorites and did not disappoint by beating Bolivia 3 – 1.
For its part, Mexico had an outstanding performance, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament where they were defeated 3-1 by local team Bolivia, and then beating Peru by the minimum difference to achieve third place.
The award for best player of the tournament went to Brazilian Ronaldo who, in addition to lifting the title, stood out with five goals. For his part, Luis ‘el Matador’ Hernández was the top scorer of the tournament with six goals.
Now, in the 2024 Copa América, Brazil will seek to repeat this historic performance, however, it will have to overcome Argentina, a team that arrives as the clearest favorite for the title.
