"Ronaldinho was right" "They need Neymar" - Fans react as Uruguay dump Brazil out of Copa America 2024 on penalties

Fans have shared their thoughts online after South American giants Brazil were sent crashing out of Copa America 2024 by Uruguay in the quarterfinal stage. The Selecao were bested by La Celeste following a penalty shootout at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 6.

Brazil qualified for the quarterfinals of the Copa America on US soil after finishing second behind Colombia in their group. They were drawn to face an in-form Uruguay side that stands among the favorites to claim the title this summer.

The Selecao were left hamstrung from the start of the tournament by the absence of star forward and record goalscorer Neymar through injury. Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr joined him for one game, having picked up a suspension against Colombia.

Manager Dorival Junior opted to have teenage striker Endrick lead the line, and the loss of Vinicius Jr was evident in how they played. Neither side managed to find the net in 90 minutes of a shot accuracy-shy contest that produced a grand total of four shots on target.

Uruguay got the better of their opponents in the penalty shootout to book their place in the semif-final of the tournament. Fans were left bitterly disappointed by how the Selecao performed, and they shared their thoughts on X.

"Ronaldinho was right," a fan tweeted.

"They need Neymar," another fan opined.

A fan shared that Ronaldinho had predicted the outcome of Brazil's tournament from the start.

"Ronaldinho called it earlier," they wrote.

Another fan made an interesting comparison between Brazil and Chelsea.

"Brazil team without Neymar and Vini Jnr is like Chelsea with Mauricio Pochettino," they chimed in.

The Selecao were dumped out of the tournament in the USA on penalties after misses from Eder Militao and Douglas Luiz. Uruguay, who had been reduced to 10 men for the final quarter of an hour thanks to a Nahitan Nandez sending off, went through after Manuel Ugarte scored the winning penalty.

Brazil crash out of Copa America 2024 after disappointing campaign

Brazil have seen their hopes of a first Copa America triumph since 2019 go up in smoke after their 4-2 penalty shootout loss to Uruguay. The match and tournament delivered a reminder that Dorival Junior's team still need a great deal of work to reach their best level.

The Selecao were poor in their final days under former interim manager Fernando Diniz, and Dorival Junior was appointed earlier this year to steady the ship. The former Santos and Palmeiras manager did so, leading them to several good results in friendlies ahead of the Copa America.

Since the start of the tournament, though, the Selecao have been far from impressive, winning just one of their four matches before crashing out. They will now watch from home while one of Argentina, Uruguay, Canada or Colombia wins the title.

Not having some of their most experienced players at the tournament has proven to be very costly for the Selecao. There will now be an inquest into their performance, which was largely disappointing.