The Brazilian coach, Dorival Juniorcriticized the refereeing of Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela and the VAR assistants after the 1-1 draw with Colombia which sent them to play against Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the Copa América. He stated that Valenzuela did not whistle a penalty on Vinícius Júnior in the first half, when the Canarinha were winning 1-0, and just before Daniel Muñoz’s equaliser in added time.
“The referee was decisive. Inside the stadium, only he and the VAR did not see a penalty, which most certainly existed. Brazil was greatly disadvantaged,” said Dorival in the press conference after the match at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. “At that moment it would have been 2-0 and with the speed we have…” he lamented.
The coach also did not think that the yellow card Vinicius received shortly after the match started for leaving his arm on James Rodríguez near the area was correct, and that will keep him out of the quarter-final match against Uruguay due to an accumulation of cards. “We started the match very well and in a situation that I think was a coincidence, Vini ended up receiving a yellow card. Everything that happened is very strange,” he said.
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Brazil finished second in Group D with 5 points, after tying Costa Rica (0-0) and Colombia (1-1), and beating Paraguay (1-4). They will face Uruguay next Saturday in Las Vegas.
