Copa America 2011, Brazil Vs. Ecuador: Neymar, Pato Guide Brazil To 4-2 Win

Pato scored the opening goal for Brazil with a very powerful header off of a cross by Andre Santos. Their lead didn’t last long, though, as Felipe Caicedo found and equalizer for Ecuador with a shot from outside of the penalty area. His shot was right at Julio Cesar, who should have stopped the shot easily, but the ball end underneath him and into the back of the net.

We’ve come down to the final match of the Copa America group stage and amazingly Brazil still do not have a spot in the knockout stage secured. They will need a win or draw over Ecuador to ensure advancement, while Ecuador needs to defeat Brazil to go through. Venezuela and Paraguay have already secured a spot in the knockout stages from Group B, but the order in which they advance is still up for grabs.

Brazil is playing with their first choice team in their preferred 4-3-3 formation with Ganso sitting in front of the other two midfielders in the middle and behing the dangerous attacking trio of Robinho, Pato and Neymar. For Ecuador, they will have to deal without Antonio Valencia, who remains out due to injury,

Enter Mano Manezes, a man who was supposed to return Brazil to their samba football roots. Instantly, he brought Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso into the side. Early results were encouraging, but the two most recent results in Copa America have been anything but. Brazil have played to two draws so far, the first of which was an incredibly boring encounter against Venezuela. A third straight draw will get Brazil into the quarterfinals - just barely - but that won’t be enough to satisfy their fans.

Brazil won’t know their exact situation until the end of the Venezuela-Paraguay match, but they should probably win regardless of what happens, or face the wrath of their fans.