Group C was always going to be the best contender for the Group of Death label prior to the beginning of the Copa America last weekend. It lived up to that label, though not exactly in the way anyone expected. Peru and Venezuela put on surprisingly good performances, both offensively and defensively, to keep them in contention for getting out of the group stage and into the knockout rounds right up until the final whistle of the last game Sunday night.
Brazil and Colombia, meanwhile, underperformed. Both teams made it into the quarterfinals, but after they struggled in the first round of matches, which looked to derail their qualification into the knockout stages. No doubt each team felt weighed down with an overwhelming amount of expectation: Colombia to build on their success in last year’s World Cup and Brazil to redeem themselves after their failures in that same tournament. Group C might have just been the gauntlet that both of these teams needed to survive to come out better on the other end.
You can peruse all the numbers by team using SportsMatrix’ infographic above.
In the end, Group C followed some of the same patterns as the wider Copa: stunted offense and surprisingly stubborn defense. Most of the quality performances among these four teams don’t easily show up in the numbers. Venezuela’s dominant midfield were unfortunate not to earn their team a spot in the knockout rounds. Their impressive versatility and smart positioning were easily the highlight of the opening games.
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- Neymar injury forces Brazil star out of Copa America
- Chile, the champion no one cared about
The lowlight no doubt came with the dismissal of Neymar after an attempted headbutt on Jeison Murillo after the whistle blew on Colombia’s first victory over Brazil in 24 years. The Barcelona forward was again expected to lead Brazil to the trophy but instead was given an early exit.
As Neymar became mired in that drama, Group C quietly produced some other standout names. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Colombia midfielder Carlos Sánchez almost single-handedly kept his country in this competition with his simultaneous dogged defending and contributions to offense. New Peru coach Ricardo Gareca has instilled in his team an aggressive style of play that surprised many and earned them a second place finish in the group. And Brazil’s Willian seems poised to become his country’s leading star in the absence of Neymar.
Brazil won the group on the last day of group play and will be facing off against Paraguay this coming Saturday. Peru is due to play another surprise team in this tournament, Bolivia, on Thursday. Colombia, having snuck through as one of the better third place group teams, will be given the daunting test of beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina on Friday.
Here are the results of Group C:
Group C Matchday 1: Brazil 2 – 1 Peru; Colombia 0 – 1 Venezuela
Group C Matchday 2: Peru 1 – 0 Venezuela; Colombia 1 – 0 Brazil
Group C Matchday 3: Colombia 0 – 0 Peru; Brazil 2 – 1 Venezuela
Final Group C Table:
| Country | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Brazil | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Peru | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Colombia | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Venezuela | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Let’s take look at some of the standout performers from Group C.
Next: Best Goalkeeper