Militao scores in Brazil’s 1-1 draw v Ecuador.

Last time out, Casemiro scored a 100th minute winner for his country against Colombia. This time it was Eder Militao on the scoresheet though Brazil could only manage a draw in their final Copa America group stage game against Ecuador.

With qualification all wrapped up for Brazil, Tite completely rotated his starting lineup, Militao the sole Real Madrid interest with Casemiro and Vinicius starting on the bench. As has been the case with Brazil in this tournament so far, the game was quite pedestrian. Seleção controlled possession and probed the opponents backline. They were limited to half chances until the 14th minute where, from a free kick, Militao beat his marker and scored the opening goal of the match.

The two matches in Group A kicked off at the same time with Peru Venzeula playing in the other game and scoreless through the first half. Ecuador knew they were playing for their Copa America future in this match, but they had offered little resistance as the half time whistle blew. Things only really got exciting in the second half when Ecuador scored the equalizer. From a corner, Militao was amongst a crowd of players that half cleared the initial cross but a round of head tennis allowed Angel Menata to break free in the box and fire past Alisson.

At 1-1, Ecuador were a team transformed and suddenly Militao and his backline had plenty of work to do to keep the scores level. Seeing the momentum of the game swinging away from his team, Tite brought on Casemiro which allowed Brazil to push for a winner late on but they couldn’t find it.

They still progress as easy winners and are still tournament favorites, but having watched them steamroll numerous opponents, it was nice to see a competitive match for a change.