Vinicius Junior will be suspended for Brazil’s Copa America quarterfinal against Uruguay.
The Real Madrid star, 23, was shown a second yellow card of the tournament in the final game of the group stage against Colombia.
He was booked for bringing down James Rodriguez after just seven minutes of the match in Santa Clara, California.
That followed a caution against Paraguay in the 83rd minute of the 4-1 win in the previous game, a match in which he had earlier scored twice.
He will now miss the last-eight clash against Uruguay, which will take place on Saturday in Las Vegas.
“It happens,” head coach Dorival Junior said. “It was an important game and I wasn’t going to rest anyone. We started the game very well.
“It was very strange, the booking. It was the first challenge of the game. But people say we have to learn to play without our big stars, so now is the time.
“In certain moments, we won’t have important players. We’ve already lost Neymar. It’s a moment for other players to step up.”
Colombia midfielder Jefferson Lerma will miss also his side’s next game, against Panama, after he was also booked for a second time in the tournament.
Vinicius Jr has 33 caps for his country, scoring five goals.
He scored twice against Paraguay to sit behind only Lautaro Martinez of Argentina in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot.
GO DEEPER
Brazil 1-1 Colombia: Takeaways from Vini Jr.’s costly yellow and James’ brilliant form
(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Publish date : 2024-07-03 01:12:05
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