Copa America Venezuela 2007

[sadora]

With the Copa America set to start on Tuesday, Argentina is looking for revenge against defending champs Brazil. The two played in the final of 2004 where Brazil won 4-2 on penalties. Of course when you think of South American football the two automatic favorites are Brazil and Argentina and with the squads confirmed this one looks to be no different. Watching some of the qualifying games along with a friendlies over the last few weeks you can't count out countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. Uruguay at the moment are tied with Argentina in first place with 14 Copa America titles each. Invitees Mexico and the US will both will have a tough time moving through the group stages facing the two most difficult groups each. Overall, Argentina has to be the top favorite in this one with players like Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Esteban Cambiasso, Pablo Aimar, Juan Sebastian Veron, Herna Crespo and of course, Lionel Messi. This is probably one of the best sides Argentina has had in a while so I'm picking them to win their 15th Copa America.

Here's the official website: http://copaamericavenezuela2007.terra.com.br/default.asp?pag=home

To see the games you might want to check your cable provider to see if you have Telelatino out of Toronto http://www.tlntv.com/.
You can also watch the games through GolTV which you can get online from TVU Networks at http://tvunetworks.com/

[Locke]

Interesting going so far. Peru absolutely destroyed Uruguay and Venezuela got robbed by Bolivia.

I can hardly wait for the Brazil-Mexico game tonight, its gonna be great.

[mrdeeds]

Interesting going so far. Peru absolutely destroyed Uruguay and Venezuela got robbed by Bolivia.

I can hardly wait for the Brazil-Mexico game tonight, its gonna be great.

Isn't Mexico depleted for the Copa America? When I watch the final of the Gold Cup, I heard a lot of regulars were going on vacation after and the team basically put everything into winning that tourney. It will be an uphill battle for sure.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Isn't Mexico depleted for the Copa America? When I watch the final of the Gold Cup, I heard a lot of regulars were going on vacation after and the team basically put everything into winning that tourney. It will be an uphill battle for sure.

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

[Locke]

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

This is true. Although for the US, the MLS season goes through the summer while most other leagues are finishing. The reason for sending a depleted Mexico and US squad though does stem somewhat from them being the Invitees to the tournament and not regulars.

[FlamingLonghorn]

1 - 0 MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! beautiful goal.....

[Thunderball]

2-0 Mexico!

Wow, I bet Brazil is regretting leaving their stars at home now...

[GirlySports]

2-0 Mexico!

Wow, I bet Brazil is regretting leaving their stars at home now...


Wow, if it weren't for the famous bright yellow jerseys I'd never guess that was Brazil. Might be the worse I've ever seen them. Their U-20 that's in Montreal now might be better than these guys... who are these guys? :)

[troutman]

Castilo from MEX is going to be a major star. In the 1st half he nearly went through the whole BRA team before losing control. His goal was a thing of beauty, and he should have scored at the end of the game too.

[Thunderball]

Wow, if it weren't for the famous bright yellow jerseys I'd never guess that was Brazil. Might be the worse I've ever seen them. Their U-20 that's in Montreal now might be better than these guys... who are these guys? :)

Looked like Gilberto Silva, Robinho and a bunch of rejects.... just poor from Brazil... I wonder what those announcers were saying about them.

[troutman]

Yeah and Borgetti is hurt although that's not a huge loss since he is past his prime. They are pretty much doing the same thing the US did and sent a good team to the Gold Cup and not so good team to Copa America.

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

[Thunderball]

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

Yes and No.

Yes, Its the bigger deal to the world, since there are much higher profile teams and much more intense competition... not the frequent Mexico and USA (or shock finalist)slap everyone around en route to playing each other that the Gold Cup is.

On the other hand, Copa America is not nearly as winnable as the Gold Cup is... the North American entrants are typically soundly thrashed and sent home. So, may as well experiment with some new players (which seemed to really pay off for Mexico)

[Locke]

Why would they do that? Isn't the Copa America a much bigger deal?

Yes, and no. To quote Thunderball ;) . Mexico (and the US) is an invite to the Copa America. Its not a regular tournament for them, so getting Club disclosure is a lot harder, and getting anyone to care is too.

Mexico's Captain, Pavel Pardo left right after the Gold Cup to go back to Germany where he played for his club, VFB Stuttgart, to seal the Bundesliga title.

Why would he care about the Copa America? Brazil and Argentina mail it in every time and win anyways. As an invitee, why should Mexico care?

This isnt to take away from their accomplishment, they play very well regardless and were one of my favorites at the last World Cup. But theres a lot of bureaucracy involved and alot of other crap too.

Locke.

[sadora]

Looked like Gilberto Silva, Robinho and a bunch of rejects.... just poor from Brazil... I wonder what those announcers were saying about them.

They were saying that basically Brazil just looked shocked. After the first goal they weren't able to recover and it was a poor start for a team that, on paper anyway, looked like second favorite going into this tournament. The man who is definitely feeling the heat now is new head coach Dunga. This is his first major tournament in this capicity and is playing a mostly internationally inexperienced team. The goalkeeper was playing in his first game with Brazil and looked nervous, especially with the second goal where he didn't even move off his line. I think Brazil will recover from this game and come out more in control of the next one. Mexico did play a pretty good game and it was nice to see Castillo taking control the way he did.

Argentina - USA tomorrow. That one should be entertaining, and interesting to see what Veron and Riquelme, who play a very similar style, play the midfield together. The only shock for me is that Tevez is on the bench for this one. With the way he finished his season in the EPL, I thought he would be a certain member of that lineup.

[mrdeeds]

Kudos to Mexico for finally demonstrating their talent and heart. Robinho can't do it all for Brazil.

Argentina-USA will be a great match.... for Argentina that is..

[Thunderball]

They were saying that basically Brazil just looked shocked. After the first goal they weren't able to recover and it was a poor start for a team that, on paper anyway, looked like second favorite going into this tournament. The man who is definitely feeling the heat now is new head coach Dunga. This is his first major tournament in this capicity and is playing a mostly internationally inexperienced team. The goalkeeper was playing in his first game with Brazil and looked nervous, especially with the second goal where he didn't even move off his line. I think Brazil will recover from this game and come out more in control of the next one. Mexico did play a pretty good game and it was nice to see Castillo taking control the way he did.

Argentina - USA tomorrow. That one should be entertaining, and interesting to see what Veron and Riquelme, who play a very similar style, play the midfield together. The only shock for me is that Tevez is on the bench for this one. With the way he finished his season in the EPL, I thought he would be a certain member of that lineup.

They were definitely something... I guess shocked works. They had some hard luck early on, but Mexico really seemed to handle them.

I was shocked how bad Diego was... he was always so strong with Werder and as a probable Juventus target, I watched him with great concern.

You're right though... Argentina-US is going to be a great game... I think I might miss it though, which sucks... I'm also very curious to see Gabriel Milito in action, another probable Juve signing.

[sadora]

I don't know how many saw the Argentina vs USA game here but IMO it was a great show if possesion football from Argentina. Though the USA did play a good defensive game, Argentina managed to break through a few times during the game for some very good opportunities. Lionel Messi's genius play was the difference for Argentina's second goal, which proved to be the eventual game winner. 4 - 1 the final score favoring Argentina.

[mrdeeds]

Good win for Argentina. The US scoring the 1st goal gave me a scare, I have to say. The talent of Argentina just could not be stopped.

[Maserati]

good match that..the commentators on Gol TV are the worse ..that man should be shot for the kind of comments he makes..next match I'll have the tv on mute.

good work argentina the yanks got me a bit worried witht hat first goal though.

[Locke]

good match that..the commentators on Gol TV are the worse ..that man should be shot for the kind of comments he makes..next match I'll have the tv on mute.

good work argentina the yanks got me a bit worried witht hat first goal though.

I was going to say something along those lines too. That commentator was such an outrageous, shameless homer for the States it was unbelievable. I think I'd rather watch it in spanish.

Firstly, I'll say the US played a 'decent' game. Nothing more than that though. They played the game technically, fairly well for the first half and 15 minutes of the second. The commentator did state that they played the game exactly as the coach drew it up. Okay, but you cant win games that way if theres no creativity. The US displayed zero creativity that entire game. They just got back, cleared the ball and hoped for the best, thats not creative thats desperate.

The US sucked on every free kick they got. They were awarded several free kicks from really good position and they wasted every one. Conversely Argentina was absolutely lethal with every free kick and corner and the US was thoroughly inept at defending from a dead ball situation and it cost them two goals. They lost the game on that merit alone.

The US sucked in open play. The Argentine goalie didnt make 1 save in open play. They never even hit him with a shot. I dont see what that commentator was so proud about.

That was a display of strong technical skill in some areas, and remarkably weak skill in others (see dead ball plays and play in general), but also, the US played a desperate defensive game doing whatever they could to hold Argentina back, and when they went down by a goal, they quit and Argentina added 2 more easy ones.

Argentina didnt play all that well either to be fair. But thats expected, you want your team to peak after the group stage, not in their first game.

I think that commentator pissed me off more than anything else, they have to find some decent guys to call the games.

Locke.

[FlamingLonghorn]

I was going to say something along those lines too. That commentator was such an outrageous, shameless homer for the States it was unbelievable. I think I'd rather watch it in spanish.

Firstly, I'll say the US played a 'decent' game. Nothing more than that though. They played the game technically, fairly well for the first half and 15 minutes of the second. The commentator did state that they played the game exactly as the coach drew it up. Okay, but you cant win games that way if theres no creativity. The US displayed zero creativity that entire game. They just got back, cleared the ball and hoped for the best, thats not creative thats desperate.

The US sucked on every free kick they got. They were awarded several free kicks from really good position and they wasted every one. Conversely Argentina was absolutely lethal with every free kick and corner and the US was thoroughly inept at defending from a dead ball situation and it cost them two goals. They lost the game on that merit alone.

The US sucked in open play. The Argentine goalie didnt make 1 save in open play. They never even hit him with a shot. I dont see what that commentator was so proud about.

That was a display of strong technical skill in some areas, and remarkably weak skill in others (see dead ball plays and play in general), but also, the US played a desperate defensive game doing whatever they could to hold Argentina back, and when they went down by a goal, they quit and Argentina added 2 more easy ones.

Argentina didnt play all that well either to be fair. But thats expected, you want your team to peak after the group stage, not in their first game.

I think that commentator pissed me off more than anything else, they have to find some decent guys to call the games.

Locke.

I will agree those were some terrible commentators. I think for who the US sent they played well enough to make me happy. Bornstein looked really good. Johnson choked on 2 breakaways (I don't understand why he slows it down when he is on the run like that, his ball control isn't good enough to deke anybody. He needs to keep pushing it up. end the Eddie Johnson should be real good but sucks rant) I wish Lee Nguyen would have played he better get some time. And Finally how can anyone not love Ben Olsen that guy leaves everything on the field everytime he plays.

[Addick]

Argentina didnt play all that well either to be fair. But thats expected, you want your team to peak after the group stage, not in their first game.

Yeah I have to admit, I was a wee bit disappointed with Argentina's performance. While they did outplay the States and looked to be in full control of the game, at times they over complicated things and tried passes that made me ask, why? On multiple occasions they had a man open for the short pass but they instead opted to go for the chip pass/short lob to the man on the flank, or player pressing the back line. I know they love beautiful football but if they had only played the simple pass they would have opened up the US' defence to a through-pass for the player who was pressing or on the flank, as well as a give-and-go with the original passer. The Argentines could have sliced open the US' backline with a combination of short passes that they are capable of producing with their precise passing abilities.

[Locke]

I will agree those were some terrible commentators. I think for who the US sent they played well enough to make me happy. Bornstein looked really good. Johnson choked on 2 breakaways (I don't understand why he slows it down when he is on the run like that, his ball control isn't good enough to deke anybody. He needs to keep pushing it up. end the Eddie Johnson should be real good but sucks rant) I wish Lee Nguyen would have played he better get some time. And Finally how can anyone not love Ben Olsen that guy leaves everything on the field everytime he plays.

The reason for that is he knows hes not likely going to get by the Argentina defenders, so by altering his pace he throws off their timing for a tackle, which basically means hes going to get fouled. Its a less theatrical form of diving, and as much as I dont like it, it is kind of smart, if you dont have the ability to get by the defense and you know it. It also means that you arent really trying to either, you're settling for the free kick, which, for the US in that game, was entirely useless.

[FlamingLonghorn]

The reason for that is he knows hes not likely going to get by the Argentina defenders, so by altering his pace he throws off their timing for a tackle, which basically means hes going to get fouled. Its a less theatrical form of diving, and as much as I dont like it, it is kind of smart, if you dont have the ability to get by the defense and you know it. It also means that you arent really trying to either, you're settling for the free kick, which, for the US in that game, was entirely useless.

Well there was at least one break where Eddie was past the defender and would have done better to keep pushing, yeah the guy was catching up but instead of getting it in the box which was like 2 feet away he stops and gets it stolen.

[Locke]

Well there was at least one break where Eddie was past the defender and would have done better to keep pushing, yeah the guy was catching up but instead of getting it in the box which was like 2 feet away he stops and gets it stolen.

You're right, I remember that, I was thinking, why the hell doesnt he take 2 more steps and then blast it? Overall that was a pretty frustrating game to watch until it someone started to take control of it.

[sadora]

Brazil vs Chile today. Should be an interesting game as Brazil need a win to stay alive in the tournament, meanwhile the Chileans only need a tie to guarantee themselves a spot in the next round. Mexico and Ecuador should be equally as interesting because of a similar scenerio favoring the Mexicans.

Great day for football today with so many international games. Canada plays Chile in the U20 World Cup. Normally I would cheer for any of my Latin American brothers but Chile is one I can never find a way to cheer for, so go Canada.
Other games are Spain vs Uruguay, Jordan vs Zambia, Japan vs Scotland, Nigeria vs Costa Rica.

[Locke]

Brazil vs Chile today. Should be an interesting game as Brazil need a win to stay alive in the tournament, meanwhile the Chileans only need a tie to guarantee themselves a spot in the next round. Mexico and Ecuador should be equally as interesting because of a similar scenerio favoring the Mexicans.

Great day for football today with so many international games. Canada plays Chile in the U20 World Cup. Normally I would cheer for any of my Latin American brothers but Chile is one I can never find a way to cheer for, so go Canada.
Other games are Spain vs Uruguay, Jordan vs Zambia, Japan vs Scotland, Nigeria vs Costa Rica.

Damned Ray Hudson is commentating again. What an .

I cheer for Brazil and Canada. Awesome day for soccer.

[Locke]

^^I guess I cant say that on CP

WOOOHOOOOO BRAZIL!!! 3-0. Awesome, and they're right back in the hunt.

Screw you Ray Hudson!!!

Lets go CANADA!!

[sadora]

As much as I am happy that Brazil beat Chile 3 - 0, I am dissapointed with the way Brazil has been playing this tournament. They didn't actually start playing a more classic Brazilian style until the second goal. The first half and most of the second they played a very disorganized game. Granted, the Chileans game plan today was to defend and gave the Brazilians virtually no space in their third of the field. I know that most of this Brazilian side is young and inexperienced but I do hope they start playing Brazilian football the rest of the tournament.

[GirlySports]

Lets go CANADA!!

Poor Canada, they looked shellshocked from the opening whistle.
Maybe having kids playing in Toronto on Canada Day wasnt such a good idea afterall. Let's hope they can pick it up in their next 2 matches.

[Locke]

Holy God almighty I hope Ray Howard isnt commentating on the next few games. I've tuned in to GOLTV for a few games, but this ###### calls all the big ones so far (Brazil/Chile and Argentina/USA) and he is an absolute moron.

I swear to God, Bob Cole and Harry Neal could do a better job and they dont even know the rules.

Ray Howard is one of very few commentators that actually has me yelling at my TV telling them to shut up because they're so bad. Not to mention the guy has a soccer man-love that is really pushing borderline homo-erotic and makes it really awkward to watch.

Watching the Brazil/Chile game and the Argentina/USA game. The number of times he calls someone a 'little beauty' or 'young pup' or that 'the coach will be kissing that little beauty's buns in the locker room at half-time' almost makes me sick.

These are honestly direct quotes. CBC's 5 second delay would have been used on him with a taser and nightstick for ##### like this, how does he get away with this on GOLTV?

And his partner Phil (quite likely his 'life/spirit' partner too) while also bad, at least still does the play by play while Ray is slobbering over the players.

I understand that I have a seriously unhealthy hate for Ray Howard (not to be confused with Dave Howard of FIFA who works closely with the CSA, he is my hero) but this really awful commentating drives me insane. It is so rare that we have soccer games of this caliber so readily available, and to have it ruined with commentary like this is truly aggravating.

And its not like GOLTV doesnt have any good commentators, I've watched 4 games on GOLTV and 2 of them had Phil and Ray and two had some other guys (didnt catch their names) that did a great job.

Someone should gag and muzzle Ray Howard, but then, he might enjoy that.

/rant.

[sadora]

^^^

Mute the sound :bag:

Honestly, even if you don't speak Spanish you should watch the games on TLN, which both Shaw and Telus carry, I'm not sure about satelite. I've watched games on GolTV where I've muted the sound and just found a decent radio station which carried the game and just listened to that.

Hopefully the USA will be eliminated today :D, and sadly Colombia will as well, unless they can pull off an upset and find a way to contain Messi, Riquelme, Crespo, Veron...well, the list just goes on.

[Maserati]

well said locke

[Locke]

well said locke

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates him.

He was outrageous again today during the USA game. The US are done. They got thoroughly embarrassed twice in a row now, can Columbia make it three?

Does anyone else hate how Ray Howard mentions every American player by their first name as though he knows them personally and is going to have a beer with them after the game? Its really unprofessional and distracting in its homerism.

Oh well, only one game left, then he can hate on Brazil and Argentina.

I'm not going to even comment on the US game other than, take whatever Howard said and believe the opposite.

Locke.

[Maserati]

man for La Liga he was callin eto by his first name I was like who the hell is he talkin about then i figured it out..he is without a doubt the worse i've heard

[Locke]

man for La Liga he was callin eto by his first name I was like who the hell is he talkin about then i figured it out..he is without a doubt the worse i've heard

I shouldnt comment based on the fact that, I believe my Ray Howard hate has gone a little far. But yes, hes bad.

Hope for better as the tournament continues, this has been really fun to watch. Great stuff.

Locke.

[Locke]

Way to go Brazil, from an intitial loss to qualifying for quarter finals. Well done! With only Robinho and a semi-interested Vagner Love carrying the team

[Locke]

USA vs Columbia. It had its moments but it was almost all Columbia again, and the USA was lucky this scoreline wasnt worse. I dont understand what Eddie Johnson thinks hes doing. He gets a great opportunity and then either stops dead, or uses it to win a corner/free kick that is totally useless because the US is completely inept at them (maybe they should practice these or something). Someone needs to teach that boy how to shoot the ball while he is running. A handy skill to have in soccer.

I'll keep my commentator hate to a minimum, but, as per Ray Howard, the USA won the "Worst Team at Copa America" title. From a guy who has been an outrageous USA homer the whole tournament I was surprised to hear that. But they didnt play very well ad there are various reasons for it but we'll leave it at that.

Now for the next round.

[Locke]

THAT WAS A BRAZIL GAME!!!!

Wow! Unbelievable, what a performance. I'll comment later, but absolutely great.

That was a display of authority. Suazo did his best all game, but the golden wave just kept coming.....

[GirlySports]

THAT WAS A BRAZIL GAME!!!!

Wow! Unbelievable, what a performance. I'll comment later, but absolutely great.

That was a display of authority. Suazo did his best all game, but the golden wave just kept coming.....

Looks like Mexico and Argentina have matched it.

Brazil-Uruguay and Mexico-Argentina will be amazing.

[FlamingLonghorn]

I dont understand what Eddie Johnson thinks hes doing. He gets a great opportunity and then either stops dead, or uses it to win a corner/free kick that is totally useless because the US is completely inept at them (maybe they should practice these or something). Someone needs to teach that boy how to shoot the ball while he is running. A handy skill to have in soccer.


Told you so... One of the most frustrating players to watch...

[sadora]

Looks like Mexico and Argentina have matched it.

Brazil-Uruguay and Mexico-Argentina will be amazing.

I can't believe what a great tournament this Copa America this has turned out to be and I can't wait to see these semi finals. I'm sure those games will be great to watch but I think we will see another final between Brazil and Argentina, who were of course the favorite's going in. Argentina want's their revenge and with the team they have right now I think they are the team most likely to lift the cup at the end of this tournament, which is hard to admit since Brazil has been my favorite since the first World Cup I remember watching, back in '86.

Talent wise, Brazil is the favorite against Uruguay. In South America this rivalry has been a classic but I don't think Uruguay have enough to get past this match. Argentina is the favorite against Mexico as well and I think they have enough defensive depth to shut down Mexico's quick attack. Having said this, Mexico has been playing good football and is riding on the wave of a very good win in the quarters. I don't think they have enough...but anything can happen on the pitch.

Brazil vs Argentina in the final...Argentina will win their 15th Copa America.

[Maserati]

great football from all involved..looking foward to the semi finals..I can see a Brazil VS Argentina final

[Locke]

Obviously a Brazil vs Argentina final is heavily favoured, and highly likely. Those two semi-final games could prove to have a couple of upsets in store though. I have to say, if anyone can beat Argentina, it would likely be Mexico, they are on fire.

Uruguay is hot after that quarter final 4-1 victory, Brazil is absolutely charged after decimating Chile 6-1, and Mexico destroyed Paraguay 6-0 and Argentina didnt look like they had too much trouble with Peru.

The semis will be interesting to say the least, these are four teams who absolutely charged full speed into their semi-final matches. Dont be too surprised if there are a couple of upsets here, or if one of these games goes into penalties.

Locke.

[Locke]

Wow. Brazil wins it on penalties.

First of all, I am a huge Brazil fan, but the refs got the call on that last penalty shot dead wrong. Dino was well off his line, and it should have been retaken. Furthermore, the 'stutter step' is illegal in penalty shots, Robinho's should have been retaken too.

Honestly I thought that ref did a fantastic job, bet then you look at specifics, there was a case for two penalty kicks for Brazil in regular time (I honestly thought only the Vagner Love being pushed was worth it, but the Alfonso take-down was close). And, two of the penalties should have been retaken. I dont understand. The ref even did a great job on the delay because of the floodlights.

Disappointing end to what was a great game even though I'm a fan of the winning team. No one wants to win that way.

[ricoFlame]

i was dissapointed that uraguay didn't pull it out. brazil was sloppy for most of the second half, oh well. decent game.

[sadora]

So Brazil and Argentina are in the final again. No surprises here. Argentina won in the semi-finals in a more convincing way, and Lio Messi's goal was one of the prettiest goals in the tournament. This was supposed to be Argentina's Copa America going in and so far I don't think many of us will think otherwise. But Brazil is known for playing differently in knockout games to throw their opponents off and I think that we'll see a much different Brazil team next Sunday. I don't know if they will have enough to cope with Argentina's explosive attack but they will put on a better show. I still think that Argentina will win this Copa but Brazil might just be able to pull off the upset.

[troutman]

This Argentina team is very impressive. Too bad they are peaking before the next world cup, because they might be the best team in the world right now.

[sadora]

Third place match taking place today. Anyone guessing who will win between Uruguay and Mexico?

[Maserati]

I think Uruguay will take it hope they do actually they have had a pretty crappy week in football.

[sadora]

I think Uruguay will take it hope they do actually they have had a pretty crappy week in football.

And that crappy week just got a lot crappier. Lugano, the team captain was sent off after elbowing a Mexican midfielder inside the box, giving Mexico a penalty shot and what turned out to be the tying goal.

I'm kind of hoping Mexico wins this one. It would be nice for them to win in what could be Cuactemoc Blanco's last game for the Tri.

Just a little fact about the Copa America. This is the oldest Cup tournament in football. The first one was held in 1916, 14 years before the first World Cup and 44 years before the Euro Cup.

[ricoFlame]

the final is beginning NOW on TLN, i love this channel, it's been football all week, pretty nice for something that i didn't even know i had, burried on channel 700 on expressvu. nice.

[ricoFlame]

baptista just scored an insanely sweet goal 4 minutes into the game for brasil. oh man, what a beauty.

Edit: the argentines just ripped one off of the post in the 9th minute...this is going to be an awesome game.

these are hands down the best two nations at making incedental contact appear as a hard foul and drawing the call. it is the only thing taking away from this powerhouse matchup. it's quite bad to this point. every time i see an argentine flop i think of that famous simulation by gabrial batistuta a few years back (world cup 2002, vs. england i believe)...brutal.

[ricoFlame]

oh no, argentina defender with the own goal, that doesn't help. 2-0 brasil.

Edit: end of the first half, score remains 2-0.

[ricoFlame]

Brasil win 3-0. 2007 copa america champions.

[Locke]

Absolutely amazing game by Brazil. This was a team that mailed it in against an Argentina squad that would be sent to the World Cup if it started tomorrow. Robinho gets the Golden Boot, Brazil gets the Copa.

Argentina played well (contrary to Ray Hudson's point of view) they just couldnt get anything finished. Roman Riquelme took the day off, his free kicks were completely useless, a one legged man could have done better, but the coach let him take them all anyways. Messi played well, but everytime he passed the ball his teammates didnt do anything with it.

That final finishing touch was missing and the defense wasnt there to guard against it.

I love how a fairly incongruous Brazil, equipped with only 1 major star, took out a stacked Argentina. They have gotta be pissed.

Well Done Brazil.

[GirlySports]

Argentina played well (contrary to Ray Hudson's point of view) they just couldnt get anything finished. Roman Riquelme took the day off, his free kicks were completely useless, a one legged man could have done better, but the coach let him take them all anyways. Messi played well, but everytime he passed the ball his teammates didnt do anything with it.

That final finishing touch was missing and the defense wasnt there to guard against it.

I love how a fairly incongruous Brazil, equipped with only 1 major star, took out a stacked Argentina. They have gotta be pissed.

Well Done Brazil.

Well Done Brazil indeed. That first goal was a shot out of a cannon, incredible.

The problem that will always plague Argentina is that their entire playbook goes through the #10. He takes penalties, free kicks, corners and every play going up the field goes through him.

Argentina has 2 world cups and nearly a 3rd in 1990 because of 2 spectacular #10s... Kempes and Maradona. They haven't won the Copa since 1993 because the #10s lately have been Ortega and Riquelme who have never played well through on the big stage.

[ricoFlame]

Argentina has 2 world cups and nearly a 3rd in 1990 because of 2 spectacular #10s... Kempes and Maradona. They haven't won the Copa since 1993 because the #10s lately have been Ortega and Riquelme who have never played well through on the big stage.

that's not a bad point, remembering a bit further back, i believe that it was crespo who was #10 for the world cup 2002 dabacle. proof that things can be a disaster if #10 can't make it happen when the team needs him to.

[GirlySports]

that's not a bad point, remembering a bit further back, i believe that it was crespo who was #10 for the world cup 2002 dabacle. proof that things can be a disaster if #10 can't make it happen when the team needs him to.

Just wikipedia'd it. Ortega was #10 for both 98 and 2002.. nuff said.
Also, I remember that Argentina continued to play an over-the-hill Batistuta who did nothing. Plus it was a killer group (Argentina, England, Sweden and Nigeria).

France is another team that relies heavily on #10. A decade of Platini followed by a decade of Zidane. I'm curious to see who the next #10 will be and how far he can lead France.

[ricoFlame]

my bad, there was no #10 for argentina in 2002, maybe that's why they never made it out of the group stage! oh well.