Santiago: Taking advantage of a bad night by Neymar, Colombia defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America on Wednesday, keeping their quarter-finals hopes alive in the South American tournament.
Jeison Murillo scored a 36th-minute winner, and Neymar's poor performance was capped by a red card after the final whistle because of an altercation with Colombian players.
Colombia's Carlos Bacca, who shoved Neymar from behind, also was shown a red card. Bacca apparently was upset after the Brazilian seemed to head-butt teammate Murillo during a discussion.
Neymar had already received his second yellow card of the tournament earlier in the match, which was already enough to suspend him from the final group match.
Brazil could have secured a spot in the quarter-finals with a win over Colombia, but now they will decide their future against Venezuela on Sunday.
The result ended Colombia's 24-year winless streak against the five-time world champion, and left Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela tied atop Group C with three points each. Venezuela and Peru, however, will play their second group match on Thursday.
If Peru beat Venezuela, all four teams will enter the final round with three points each. The top two teams in each of the three groups advance, plus the two-best third-place finishers. A loss on Wednesday would have left Colombia with zero points and in difficult position to advance.
With Neymar struggling, Brazil had difficulties getting near the goal and it were Colombia - led by James Rodriguez and Falcao Garcia - who created the most dangerous chances.
Murillo netted the winner off a free kick cross into Brazil's area. He got to the loose ball near the penalty spot and fired a low shot through the legs of Brazil defender Thiago Silva.
Neymar had one of Brazil's best chances to equalize with a close-range header in the 44th, but Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina made a difficult save to keep his team ahead. Off the rebound, the ball touched Neymar's hand, prompting the referee to show him a yellow card that would have been enough to suspend the Barcelona star from the next match.
Neymar complained, saying that the touch was involuntary. He had already received a yellow card in the opening game against Peru, when he played extremely well and led Brazil to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
Brazil had another great chance to equalize in the 58th, after Murillo misplayed a pass back to Ospina and the ball ended with Roberto Firmino inside the area, but the Brazilian forward missed the open net, sending his shot over the crossbar.
The Copa America is Brazil's first official competition since it was humiliated in a 7-1 World Cup semi-final loss to Germany last year. Brazil eliminated Colombia in the quarter-finals of the home tournament.
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