Copa America 2019: Peru left with one last mountain to climb for World Cup redemption

Exclusive: Nobby Solano tells The Independent how Peru can avenge their World Cup demons in the Copa America final

It’s 8.50 on Thursday morning in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

In Peru, meanwhile, it's very much the morning after the night before, with parties continuing long after La Blanquirroja had defeated Chile 3-0 to seal a place in the Copa America final against the hosts on Sunday.

Nobby Solano, Peru’s assistant coach, understandably sounds like he lived and breathed every minute of his country’s stunning triumph from the bench as Ricardo Gareca’s side denied their near neighbours a stab at a third successive Copa America title.

“You’ll have to forgive the voice,” he says in an accent that still contains a discernible Tyneside twang after all his years in the north east with Newcastle and Hartlepool, sandwiched between roving spells at West Ham, Leicester and Hull.

It’s no wonder he sounds a little hoarse. It’s barely two weeks since Peru were humbled 5-0 by Brazil in the group stage of the competition in Sao Paolo, with Chelsea’s Willian and Firmino of Liverpool getting on the scoresheet. Now they're readying themselves to face them in the final.

After that defeat at the Arena Corinthians the thought of Peru getting to the final appeared as fanciful as Newcastle one day challenging for a Champions League place again.

Football in this part of the world does, though, have a timeless ability to charm and surprise.

“I don’t think anyone really saw this coming,” says Solano. “Things didn’t go so well in the group stages but this is a team that has never stopped believing in itself.”

After finishing as the best third place qualifier, ahead of Paraguay and, incongruously, Japan, Peru haven’t looked back.

Peru have knocked out Uruguay and Chile on their way to the final (Getty)

First, they knocked out Uruguay - the most prolific winner of a competition that was first held in 1916 – on penalties following a 0-0 draw in Salvador.

Just five days later they turned on the style to thrash Chile – a team that had beaten them in seven of their past eight meetings.

Had Chile won they would have headed to the Maracana with the opportunity to become the first team in over 70 years to win three Copa America’s on the bounce.

As it is, Peru have the chance to win the country’s first crown since 1975, the year after Solano first entered the world.

It’s a far cry from the disappointment that engulfed the country after their disappointing display at last summer’s World Cup in Russia, their first appearance on the global stage since 1982.

Peru were upset to be knocked out of the group stage in the 2018 World Cup (Getty)

“We have been lucky and everyone is very emotional at the moment but this is great after what happened in Russia,” he says.

“The World Cup was an amazing experience but it was really tough. We were disappointed – particularly as we could have had a better result against Denmark (their opening match against the Danes ended in a 1-0 defeat in Saransk) but in the end we lost. Then we had France, so we were always up against it.

“Now we’ve taken what we learnt out there and brought it into this tournament. But we need to carry on, we need to take the next step. The next challenge, after the final, is to make sure we make it to the next World Cup.”

A triumph over Brazil would provide them with the best platform possible to make that happen and isn’t unthinkable, particularly given Brazil’s past upsets on the biggest stage in front of their own passionate but ultimately incredibly demanding supporters.

Memories of their scarcely believable 7-1 mauling by Germany in Belo Horizonte still keep some Brazilian football lovers awake at night.

And there are plenty who know what happened against Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final, even if they were far too young to have been there in person.

It’s 12 years since Brazil’s most recent Copa America title, when they thrashed Argentina 3-0 in Venezuela. There has been plenty of water under the bridge since, with the scars of that World Cup humiliation still causing considerable soreness among the country’s football-mad public.

Peru now have the opportunity to rub salt into those wounds, although the group stage match between the pair suggests that they will have their work cut out.

“Football is a funny game, everyone knows that,” says Solano. “All of a sudden we’re on a real high.”

That may be so, but they still have one final mountain to climb.