California’s Inglewood (AP) — Costa Rica held Brazil to a scoreless draw on Monday night, as the global superpower unluckily was unable to generate much forward pressure in its Copa America debut.

Goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira’s team kept the Seleção scoreless despite controlling play and outshooting Costa Rica 18-2. Sequeira made three stops to record his fourth straight clean sheet.

After a protracted VAR examination, Marquinhos’ apparent goal for Brazil was also disallowed in the first half. The squad, recognized for years of exceptional offensive performance, never came close to scoring in front of a boisterous crowd of 67,158 at SoFi Stadium, nor did they get a break on multiple dubious calls made by the referees.

In the end, Colombia defeated Paraguay 2-1 to take the lead in Group D. Although Brazil has won nine times in the Copa America, their current transitional team, which is led by Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo of Real Madrid, is off to a disappointing start.

Costa Rica, the undermanned CONCACAF squad with the youngest roster in the competition but a reputation for overachievement and strong defense, achieved a great deal with the draw. Brazil and Los Ticos had lost nine out of the last ten meetings.

Brazil dominated the opening half, holding 75% of the ball.

In the 22nd minute, Haxzel Quirós delivered a powerful hit that knocked Vinícius down in the box, but there was no whistle blown.

Rodrygo headed Raphinha’s free kick in the thirty-first minute, and Marquinhos scored a goal at the far post with a low shot. After a three and a half-minute VAR review, Mexican referee César Ramos ultimately upheld the assistant’s decision to flag it offside by the narrowest of margins.

A Lucas Paquetá kick appeared to go off Juan Pablo Vargas’ hand in the penalty area in the 39th minute, but Ramos chose not to call it.

In the sixty-third minute, Paquetá blasted a shot off the crossbar. Next, Haxzel Quirós almost headed the ball into his own net, but Sequeira smothered it, saving Costa Rica.

Beginning in the 86th minute, Costa Rica had to weather many more moments of mayhem as Rodrygo missed two opportunities to score and was not given a foul call against Jeyland Mitchell in the box.

Then, in the opening minute of injury time, Bruno Guimarães got a clear shot at goal, but he pushed it just wide.

Particularly without Neymar, who hasn’t played since rupturing a knee ligament in a Brazil match last October, the national team is going through a transitional phase. Before viewing the game at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, Neymar gave his squad a speech. When his concerned face flashed on the scoreboard in the second half, he received a ton of support.