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Philippe Coutinho's Brace Leads Brazil Past Bolivia in 2019 Copa America Opener

Host nation Brazil overcame a sluggish start to open the 2019 Copa America tournament with a 3-0 victory over Bolivia on Friday night at Estadio do Morumbi in Sao Paulo.

Philippe Coutinho scored twice inside the first 10 minutes of the second half to pace a Selecao attack that was mostly listless before halftime. Everton added the other goal in the match's final minutes.

The Brazilian defense looked far more in form for the full 90, holding La Verde to one shot on target to help goalkeeper Alisson secure the clean sheet.

Brazil entered the tournament under a lot of pressure to perform despite the absence of superstar forward Neymar, who suffered an ankle injury during a friendly against Qatar last week.