Goals from Thiago Silva and Roberto Firmino earned Brazil a 2-1 win over Venezuela and booked them a Copa America quarter-final against Paraguay.
The 2014 World Cup hosts were under heavy scrutiny following their 1-0 defeat to Colombia in their last game and were without talisman Neymar, whose four-game ban means that he will miss the rest of the competition.
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But they started ideally as Silva met an eighth-minute corner with a thumping volley to give the Selecao an early lead.
Former Manchester City forward Robinho, recalled in the absence of Neymar, went close to extending Brazil’s advantage on the quarter-hour mark when his volley went just high of the crossbar.
A Silva header was saved by Alain Baroja after the break as Brazil pushed for a second, which came on 52 minutes when rumoured Manchester United target Roberto Firmino turned a Willian cross home after great work from the Chelsea workhorse.
A draw would have given Venezuela a chance to qualify for the last eight, and Miku gave them a lifeline six minutes from time when he stooped low to head in a rebound after Jefferson had dived to save Juan Arango’s free-kick at full stretch.
But Brazil held on to advance to the knockout stages as Group C winners.
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