FOXBOROUGH, Mass., Sporting Alert – Brazil crashed out of the 2016 Copa America Centenario tournament after losing 1-0 to Peru in the final group match on Sunday (12).
The controversial goal came in the 75th after it appears that Raul Ruidiaz handled the ball in assisting it into the back of the net.
After a long delay, which saw the referee and his assistants meeting for six minutes to get help from the technical staff, the goal, which was initially disallowed, was changed back to stand, despite replays clearly showed that Ruidiaz guided the ball into the goal with his right hand.
With the win, Peru moved up to top Group B and will face Colombia in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Brazil, one of the pre-Copa America tournament favourites, are eliminated.
It was the first time Peru were beating Brazil in 31 years and the final result could cost Brazil coach Dunga his job, as it is understood that his minimum requirement was the qualify the five-time World Cup champions for the final.
He was furious.
“I am sure the Brazilian fans saw the game and saw how Brazil was eliminated,” Dunga said.
“There is no way to anticipate imponderables. The team was not eliminated by anything to do with football.”
“I do not quite understand who or what the referee was consulting,” he said.
“It was such a clear handball, but we have no influence over the referee.”
Meanwhile, despite the clear handball incident, which was brought to light by multiple replays from several different angles, and the fact that his side was outplayed by Brazil for most of the game, Peru coach Ricardo Gareca insisted they deserved the win.
“I thought we did enough to deserve to win,” Gareca said.
“I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve heard some comments. But I never think too much about mistakes by officials,” he added.
