Brazil booked a place in the Copa America final with a hard-earned 2-0 victory over fierce rivals Argentina in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday night.
It was not a particularly convincing performance from the hosts, with Argentina more than holding their own and regularly threatening an equaliser when the scoreline was 1-0, including efforts against the woodwork from Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi.
But Brazil succeeded where Argentina failed by converting two of their very few clear chances on the night, and will now await the winners of Chile versus Peru as they seek their first Copa America triumph since 2007.
Ahead of Sunday’s final, though, Brazil know they can play much, much better.
Brazil leave room for improvement
Brazil will be breathing a big sigh of relief after overcoming a strong and spirited Argentina display, but Canarinho will know their overall performance left a lot of room for improvement.
Gabriel Jesus’ opening goal was the only real chance created in the first half by Brazil, and manager Tite’s dissatisfaction with his team’s efforts was made plain by his decision to replace winger Everton during the interval, bringing on Chelsea veteran Willian in an attempt to find more attacking fluency and penetration.
It made little difference as Argentina continued to seize the initiative, prompting some whistles from the Belo Horizonte crowd towards their own players as the visiting team continued to press for an equaliser.
Only after Jesus led a brilliant counter-attack to set up the second goal for Roberto Firmino – completely against the run of play – did Brazil look at all comfortable.
Frustrated Argentina lost their way in the latter stages and the hosts survived without real difficulty from that moment, but their lacklustre performance over the opening 70 minutes means they can take nothing for granted ahead of Sunday’s final, with a particular need for more fluency and control in midfield.
Optimism restored for Argentina?
Leandro Paredes has been a bright spot.
With the decision of Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni to send out the same players who started in the quarter-final against Venezuela, La Albiceleste were lining up with an unchanged team for the first time in 40 games.
That growing sense of familiarity and shared strategy allowed Argentina to make a bright and confident start, firing in the first shot of the game with a long-range missile from Leandro Paredes which flew inches over the bar.
Even though Brazil then took the lead, Argentina were not rattled and continued to employ a methodical and constructive approach, coming within inches of an equaliser when Aguero’s header from a Messi free-kick hit the bar with Alisson well beaten.
Although they couldn’t make a comeback as Messi was also denied by the post, the progress made by Argentina during this competition suggests that – for the first time since the 2016 Copa America final defeat against Chile – their future is looking bright.
Now the chief decision facing the country’s federation is whether to retain Scaloni, who is only currently coaching the team in a caretaker capacity. On this evidence, he should be made a permanent appointment.
What now for Messi?
Argentina’s exit will naturally be headlined as another failure on the international stage for Messi, who was unable to produce match-winning heroics despite a much-improved performance from his earlier tepid outings in the competition.
In particular, one brilliant burst towards the end of the first half was vintage Messi, as he snaked away from two challenges on the halfway line and dribbled goalwards before releasing a well-weighted pass to Aguero, whose low shot was blocked. He was also extremely unlucky to be denied by the upright from a crunching half-volley, and certainly does not deserve to be reprimanded for his team’s failure to advance on this occasion.
From a wider perspective, the more collective approach employed by Argentina was greatly beneficial to Messi, who was allowed to pick the right moments to exert and impose himself rather than being the team’s sole raison d’etre, and he must be encouraged by La Albiceleste’s general direction as he looks to the future.
Aside from a brief ‘retirement’ in 2016, Messi has always remained loyal to the Argentine cause despite many opportunities to quit. And with his country set to co-host next year’s Copa America, he surely won’t give up now.
