Colombia defender Camilo Zúñiga believes they face a difficult task to take three points from their Copa América clash with Brazil on Wednesday.

José Pékerman’s side suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Venezuela in their Group C opener, leaving the team with work to do if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

And the Napoli man acknowledges that los Cafeteros will have to improve if they are to kick-start their campaign with a win at the Estadio Monumental David Arellano in Santiago.

“We knew it was going to be difficult. Venezuela stopped us well and made it complicated, not letting Colombia do what we are accustomed to,” Zúñiga told El Tiempo.

“From the beginning we knew it would be a complicated Copa América – no one wants to give anything away. Now we have to think about Brazil.

“Our idea is to prepare ourselves well, we had a few days to try and improve on what we did wrong against Venezuela. To get the three points against Brazil is going to be complicated.

 

“We will give everything on the pitch, we know it will not be easy. This Copa América is complicated and the match against Brazil will be hard, but we will give everything.”

Brazil were also rather unconvinving in their Copa debut, coming from behind to beat Peru 2-1 as Douglas Costa scored a dramatic late winner for Dunga’s men.

Neymar starred throughout, equalising for the Seleção before also setting up the stoppage-time strike from the Shakhtar Donetsk man.

But one of the unsung heroes was undoubtedly Willian, whose hard work and accurate passing drew plaudits.

Like Neymar, he also possesses a penchant for moments of flair, something which he hopes can help Brazil to victory over Colombia.

“It’s always been my way of playing. I always like to play that way – going up to the opponent and creating the plays. It’s important for the national team,” he told Globo Esporte.

“We have Neymar who likes to make this kind of move, but I also like it. I hope it continues working.
“We have to think about ourselves. Colombia lost and is going to want to win. It will be a difficult game and we are going to try leave with another victory.”

Brazil has an incredible record against Colombia, winning 17 of the 27 matches between the nations and losing just two; included in that streak is a 2-1 victory in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup.

Dunga’s Brazil has won 11 matches in a row since their embarrassing exit at that tournament, but he will be hoping for better than their performance against Peru.

He will have been boosted by the return to training of Philippe Coutinho, who missed the opener against La Blanquirroja. However, Douglas Costa’s late goal could put him in line for a starting role.

Pékerman has no plans to make drastic changes with Colombia, lamenting his team’s lack of cohesiveness during their loss to Venezuela.

“This [was] a typical opening match in the Copa, where it always takes a little time to find the rhythm,” he said at a press onference.

He will be expecting more from his stars, including striker and captain Radamel Falcao. The Monaco man had scored in three straight games for Colombia before disappointing with his showing in the Venezuela clash.