Brazil's Dani Alves celebrating after scoring against Peru during their Copa America football tournament group match at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday — AFP SAO PAULO, June 23 (AP): The Copa America has finally started for host Brazil. After two lackluster performances that drew jeers from the home fans and added pressure on coach Tite, Brazil got it going on Saturday in thrashing Peru 5-0 to make the quarterfinals.
Casemiro, Roberto Firmino and Everton scored in the first half, and Dani Alves and Willian in the second to keep the hosts on track for their first Copa title since 2007.
"The team played a great match," Tite said. "We created the chances and this time we were precise in front of the goal. We were more efficient."
The rout could have been bigger had forward Gabriel Jesus not missed a penalty kick in stoppage time.
Brazil finished first in Group A with seven points, two more than second-placed Venezuela, which also advanced after beating Bolivia 3-1 in Belo Horizonte.
Peru stayed with four points but can still advance as one of the two best third-place finishers in all three groups.
With a changed team led by youngster Everton, Brazil finally played well after opening with disappointing performances against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Fans had been wanting to see Everton more often and Tite finally started him. He and Gabriel Jesus replaced David Neres and Richarlison.
Everton played in the same position as Neymar, who was dropped from Brazil's squad just before the tournament.
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