Hosts Brazil began the defence of their Copa America title with a comfortable victory over a Covid-affected Venezuela in the tournament\u2019s opening match.
\nTalisman Neymar scored one and assisted another, adding a second for Tite\u2019s side with a second-half penalty before setting up Gabriel Barbosa late on.
\nParis St-Germain defender Marquinhos bundled in a 23rd-minute opener after Venezuela failed to clear a corner.
\nTwelve of Venezuela\u2019s players and coaching staff tested positive for Covid-19 a day before their opening match in Group A, which also includes Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
\nColombia won their opener against Ecuador 1-0, with Edwin Cardona scoring the only goal of the game minutes before half-time from a cleverly-worked free-kick.
\nThe goal was initially ruled out for offside but the video assistant referee (VAR) overturned the decision.
\nEverton forward Richarlison had a first-half goal disallowed for offside and Neymar missed from close range as Brazil initially struggled to make their dominance count.
\nNeymar scored his 67th international goal after Yohan Cumana fouled Danilo, but he missed another great chance to move closer to Pele\u2019s national record of 77, shooting wide after breaking through the Venezuela defence in the closing stages.
\nThe PSG forward then rounded goalkeeper Joel Graterol before squaring to substitute Barbosa for a tap-in.
\nThe 47th edition of the Copa America – delayed a year because of the coronavirus outbreak – is taking place in Brazil, after Colombia and Argentina were stripped of the tournament.
\nThe South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) removed Colombia as co-hosts in May amid anti-government protests and Argentina were later replaced because of rising Covid-19 cases in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hosts Brazil began the defence of their Copa America title with a comfortable victory over a Covid-affected Venezuela in the tournament\u2019s opening match. Talisman Neymar scored one and assisted another, adding a second for Tite\u2019s side with a second-half penalty before setting up Gabriel Barbosa late on. Paris St-Germain defender Marquinhos bundled in a 23rd-minute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n