Brazil beat their archrivals from Argentina in the final of this year's Copa América by 3-0. When reading this one might expect a hullaballoo of offensive football, nice attacking and brilliant and fast passing. But that wasn't the case. Brazil stood firm in the defense waiting for the Argentinian attack just to stop it with cold blood. When taking over the ball they tried to put it up front as fast as they could. This was how they scored first after 5 minutes. A long pass by Elano (who had to leave the pitch due to an injury only minutes later) to "The Beast" Julio Baptista and Brazil was in the lead. Argentina tried to strike back quickly, but after a nice combination between Messi and Véron Riquelme only hit the post. And just as everyone was settling for half time Ayala scored an own goal giving Brazil a 2-0 half time lead. After the break it was the same picture, Argentina pressing for a goal and Brazil defending firmly. And then the got the neckbreaker. A wonderful and fast attack by Wagner Love found Dani Alves with a brilliant pass and it was 3-0. After that there was no answer from Argentina.
Most people will see this final as boring and uninspiring given the names of the participants. But to me it was wonderful to watch. Right from the start both teams went at it without giving up their defense. And it was interesting to see a Brazilian side who was willing to defend a lead and not run up front all the time. Argentina on the other hand played the most beautiful football of the tournament without losing a single match but they found their masters in Brazil this time. Still with talent like Tevez or Messi there is nothing to worry about for the future. Except maybe that Brazil rested their two main players by not taking them to the tournament. When Káká or Ronaldinho are in that squad as well it should be very hard for opponents to stop them.
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