Copa America: 15 surprises so far

5. Peru’s inspired attack

Sharing a group with Brazil and Ecuador seemed to give Peru little chance of advancing to the knockout rounds on paper, but La Blanquirroja quickly emerged as one of the surprise squads of the Centenario.

Peru’s tournament got off to an inauspicious start, as it only emerged with a 1-0 win over hapless Haiti. However, following a  solid 2-2 draw against Ecuador, Peru entered the final game of the group stage with a chance to advance if it could take down mighty Brazil.

La Blanquirroja then sprung one of the upsets of the tournament with a 1-0 win to reach the quarterfinals. While Peru was helped out by an obvious handball on the goal, it had plenty of chances throughout the game and played just as well as the Brazilians.

In addition to the stellar goalkeeping, Peru’s capability on offense was quite surprising. Rather than sit back and wait for a counterattack against better teams in Ecuador and Brazil, Peru looked for chances to get forward in both matches, with great success. Christian Cueva and Edison Flores both scored excellent goals in the free-flowing match with Ecuador.

Peru’s run would end in the quarters in penalty kicks against Colombia, but La Blanquirroja had some chances to win in regulation near the end. While Peru wasn’t the biggest underdog on paper entering the Centenario, their overall quality was very surprising.

Next: 4. USA bounces back strong after opening loss