Messi Hat-Trick Fires Argentina To 4-3 Victory Over Brazil

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Argentina defeated Brazil 4-3 on Saturday in a seven goal thriller that will go down in soccer history as one of the most memorable matches between Brazil and Argentina of all time. The game featured the second encounter between Argentina’s Messi and Brazil’s Neymar after their match-up in Tokyo at the club level in the December Club World Cup Final between Santos and Barcelona. Messi affirmed his position as the world’s best player by giving Neymar yet another lesson in the art of footballing magic by scoring three spectacular goals. Meanwhile, the match demonstrated Argentina’s position as one of the best teams in the world while underscoring Brazil’s depth and reserves of untapped talent.

Playing the last of four friendlies before the Olympics, Brazil continued to field a youthful squad with few players with significant experience for the national team. Coach Mano Menezes opted to start Manchester United’s Rafael instead of Danilo on the right flank and Bruno Uvini for the injured Thiago Silva in central defense. Brazil continued their 4-3-3 formation with Hulk, Leandro Damiao and Neymar in attack. Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella started Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain in attack in front of Angel di Maria in midfield.

Brazil took the initiative in the opening 20 minutes by pressuring Argentina in their own half. Oscar picked out Hulk after 15 minutes but the Porto striker’s shot was saved by Romero. Brazil’s pressure paid off the in the 23rd minute when Neymar curled in a free kick from the right flank that found Romulus in the box. Romulus trapped the ball, turned and dispatched a fierce shot to make it 1-0 Brazil.

Argentina was not to be discouraged easily. In the 31st minute, Angel di Maria split the Brazilian central defense with a terrific through ball which Messi slotted home to make it 1-1. Three minutes later, di Maria threaded another pass to Messi, who rounded Rafael and tucked home his second goal of the afternoon to make the score 2-1 in Argentina’s favor.

Undeterred by Messi’s flashes of brilliance, Brazil took the offensive to Argentina in search of an equalizer in the second half. In the 56th minute, Oscar played a give and go with Leandro Damiao, who had his back to goal. Damiao saw the onrushing Oscar and flicked a pass to his teammate who promptly dispatched it past the keeper’s right hand to make it 2-2. Roughly fifteen minutes later, Romero failed to hold onto a Neymar corner that dropped for Hulk in the box, and the Porto striker made no mistake by dispatching the ball into the back of the net to give Brazil a 3-2 lead.

Argentina showed they were finished yet through a Federico Fernandez header from a corner kick in the 76th minute. Finally, five minutes from the end of regulation, Messi displayed his ability to singlehandedly decide the outcome of a game. The Argentine number 10 picked up the ball on the right flank near the center line, beat Marcelo, cut diagonally inside and unleashed a curling strike with his left foot into the top left corner of the net.

Overall, this was a promising result and performance for both teams. Brazil showed excellent teamwork and attacking creativity. Argentina, meanwhile, have to thank Lionel Messi’s sublime individual play for the victory. The only sour note about the match was an altercation between Argentina’s Lavezzi and Brazil’s Marcelo in injury time that resulted in red cards for both players. Despite poor showings at the 2010 World Cup, Brazil and Argentina both look cohesive and dangerous as illustrated by today’s seven goal feast from the continent’s two titans.

Goals:

Argentina: 31, 34, 85 (Messi), 76 (Fernandez)
Brazil: 23 (Romulus), 56 (Oscar), 72 (Hulk)

Starting Lineups:

Argentina: Romero, Zabaleta, Federico Fernández, Garay, Clemente Rodriguez, Sosa , Mascherano, Gago, Di María, Messi and Higuain.

Brazil: Rafael Cabral, Rafael, Bruno Uvini, Juan, Marcelo, Sandro, Romulus, Oscar, Hulk, Neymar and Leandro Damiao

Messi Humbles Neymar In Barca's 4-0 Rout of Santos in Club World Cup Final

Barcelona routed Santos 4-0 in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday in a formidable display of one touch passing, attacking firepower and possession football. The scoreline humbled South American club champions Santos and underlined Lionel Messi’s position as the best player in the world in the wake of a much touted rivalry between Messi and Santos striker Neymar. Barcelona raced to 3-0 lead at halftime thanks to goals by Messi, Xavi and Fabregas. Despite a 5 man back line, Santos defended sloppily and allowed Messi too much space on the right flank, from which he tended to cut inside and head toward goal. Santos looked more threatening in the second half but failed to convert a Neymar shot and ended up conceding a fourth goal ten minutes from time. After the match, Santos coach Muricy Ramalho remarked that no one can beat Barcelona though he pledged his team would attempt to return to the Club World Cup final next year with the hope of winning the title. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, oozed admiration for his team’s performance by noting that Barca played “like artists” and that Messi delivered a near perfect performance, under pressure. Before the match, Neymar had remarked how he plans to continue playing in Brazil until 2014. After being humbled by the Spanish champions, however, one wonders whether Neymar and Ganso will opt to ply their trade in Europe after taking a lesson in footballing mastery from the Catalan greats.

Flashback: Garrincha and the lost art of dribbling. Brazil v. Soviet Union, World Cup 1958

Lionel Messi may be the greatest dribbler in the modern game, but his shifts of pace and effortless sidestepping of opponents should perhaps more aptly be termed gliding rather than dribbling. Dribbling refers to an array of tricks for outmaneuvering an opposing player that include zig-zags in ball direction, rapid changes in the ball's point of contact with the foot, step-over moves, exceptional ball control and a passion for entertaining fans. Alongside Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo qualifies as an effective dribbler as does Santos's Neymar. That said, given the retirement of Ronaldo of Corinthians, and the sunset over the career of Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, dribbling is rapidly becoming a lost art. Spain's pre-eminence in modern football was built on a passing game as opposed to dribbling skill. Brazil constitutes the leading contemporary candidate to resurrect the art of dribbling owing to a long dribbling tradition epitomized by Garrincha in the 1950s and 1960s and members of the great World Cup team of 1970 such as Clodoaldo and Rivelino.

In his book Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero, Ruy Castro helps us recall the magic of Garrincha and the lost art of dribbling in a moving excerpt about Brazil's clash with the Soviet Union in the 1958 World Cup. At the time, the Soviet Union was feared because of their legendary fitness and scientific approach to both training and tactical deployment on the field. Brazil fitness trainer Paulo Amaral called up Garrincha to the first team because he knew only Garrincha could run the Soviets in circles and enable Brazil to take the lead in scoring. True to Amaral's instincts, Garrincha shocked the Soviet defenders with his looping runs that tied them up in knots in the opening seconds of the match. Within three minutes, Vava scored for Brazil. Castro describes Garrincha's effect on the Soviets as follows:

"And there were still 87 minutes to go. Had it gone on that way for the rest of the game the Soviets would have been looking at a season in Siberia. Their proud "scientific" football had never before been so demoralised, and by the most improbable source: a poor Brazilian peasant -- dark-skinned, small as a bird, cock-eyed and with ridiculously crooked legs. Garrincha was a perfect example of anti-science; he was anti-Sputnik, anti-electronic brain, Kessarev, Krijveski, Voinov, Tsarev and especially Kuznetzov were all taken to the cleaners by the little man at some point during the game, either one at a time or in pairs or threes, or sometimes even one after another.

At the start of the game, after those ferocious opening three minutes, the Soviets still thought their problem was with marking, and they began to fight among themselves. But if they did tighten up it wasn't noticeable because Garrincha continued to run rings round them. Then the Soviets resorted to trying to bring him down, largely unsuccessfully. In one memorable incident, after leaving a defender on the ground Garrincha put his foot on the ball and with his back to the player offered his hand to help him up. He lifted the player up and then started running again as it were the most natural thing in the world.

Brazil would score just once more, when Vava doubled his tally 31 minutes into the second half. But it felt like the biggest hammering in World Cup history. At no time did the Soviets threaten to score; Gilmar had only one save to make. It was a different story at the other end, where only Yashin's brilliance had helped avoid a catastroph. Brazil mounted 36 attacks, 18 of which were dangerous, and they hit the woodwork twice. Garrincha had arrived, and not just for those watching live but also for those listening in at home. From that day on there were no more Botafogo fans, Fluminense fans, Flamengo fans, Corinthians fans or Gremio fans. Everyone was now a Garrincha fan, even when he played against their own team.

In the dressing room after the game, Garrincha had no ideas who had been marking him. And why would he? He hadn't been marked by one man but by many, and all their names ended in ev or ov. What did he care? The only thing he said, which summed up his performance perfectly, was, "I was hungry for the ball today."

(Castro, 122-123)

Here, Garrincha leaves a Soviet defender for dead on the Swedish turf before returning to extend a hand to help him up and darting forward toward goal once again. Garrincha had been left out of the earlier group matches against Austria and England, but was included in the match against the Soviet Union to counteract their alleged ability to run for 180 minutes. The Soviets were favorites to win the 1958 World Cup in the heyday of the Cold War, having won Olympic gold in Melbourne in 1956 and launched Sputnik in 1957. But out of the blue, Garrincha's passion and playfulness with the ball enabled Brazil to defeat the Soviets and march towards its first ever World Cup championship.

Brazil, Spain and the beautiful game: 2010 in Review

In recognition of the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what we as a community of writers and thinkers about football have accomplished since this blog was launched, soon after the 2010 World Cup, roughly 6 months ago. This year, in football, we saw the ascendancy of Spain as World Cup champions for the first time in history alongside the emergence of promising young teams from Germany, Ghana and Uruguay. Spain's passing game emerged as a model of tactical awareness and coherence for teams all over the world to emulate. Our postings examined the legacy of Carlos Dunga to the national team, Mano Menezes's efforts to renovate the Selecao, deadly strike partnerships such as Romario and Bebeto, teen Santos sensations Neymar and Ganso, AC Milan starlets Ronaldinho, Pato and Robinho, the brilliance of Lionel Messi, Kaka's recovery from knee surgery and the widely controversial appointment of Leonardo Nascimento de Araujo as coach of Inter Milan.

We have also begun a deeper investigation into the history of Brazilian football more generally. We have had the privilege to reflect on Brazil's historic loss to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final, the legendary team of 1982, the World Cup championship team of 1994 as well as the teams of 1998 and 2002. All this leaves us ample territory in the months and years ahead, to dig deeper into the history of Brazilian football by covering teams and players that have gradually been erased from historical memory online and, to a lesser extent, in print as well.

We saw glimpses of the beautiful game in Brazil 2002, when Luiz Felipe Scolari fielded 6 attacking players in the early matches in the form of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Juninho Paulista, Roberto Carlos and Cafu. This year, Spain's Barcelona midfield quartet of Iniesta, Xabi, Xavi Alonso and Busquets gave us yet another tantalizing glimpse of beautiful football, but their elegant passing needs to be supplemented by more firepower up front in order to earn a place amongst the top 5 teams in footballing history.

We believe a historical investigation into Brazilian football will enable us to describe, recover and ultimately restore the true spirit of the beautiful game. We have an interest in stylish, attacking football and players and coaches that have a similar investment. And in all this, we have a larger interest in freedom, creativity, aesthetics and the capacity of sport qua art to enrich our lives with models of collaboration, mentorship, friendship, closeness, creativity and passionate modalities of self-expression.

Ronaldo of Brazil: The Retirement of the First Global Sports Hero of All Time

Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo announced his retirement from professional football on February 14, 2011, citing difficulties maintaining his body and hypothyroidism, a medical condition which made it difficult for him to maintain an optimal weight.

Where will Ronaldo find his nest after retiring from professional football? Questions such as these about Ronaldo’s future hover like a ghost around the Brazilian legend's decision to retire in the wake of harassment from Corinthians fans because of the club's February 2 exit from the Copa Libertadores. After retirement, Ronaldo’s Selecao teammates Romario and Bebeto found careers in coaching, club management and, most recently, politics. Correspondingly, 1994 World Cup winners Dunga and Jorginho went on to coach one of the most tactically aware and defensively robust Brazil sides of all time. Right winger Leonardo coached AC Milan with considerable success from 2009-2010 and has transformed Inter Milan radically since taking over as coach in late December 2010.

Ronaldo has said little about his post-retirement plans but one senses he is less likely to pursue a career in coaching and more inclined to contribute to football in an advisory capacity for club teams or as a commentator on the game. As a global symbol of peace, goodwill and human rights for the United Nations at various moments during his career, Ronaldo may well end up following Romario and Bebeto in furthering causes for justice and the well-being of children worldwide, whether in politics or the non-profit sector. With respect to football, Ronaldo has professed an interest in remaining involved with his former club Real Madrid in an advisory role, and one would expect that he will continue to maintain close ties to Corinthians in subsequent years. But in all this, the question about Ronaldo’s retirement and attendant plans engages the fate of one of the first truly transnational sports heroes of all time.

Ronaldo rapidly became a symbol of goodwill and sportsmanship to generations of football fans all over the world. In the mid-1990s, his goal scoring feats and slalom runs catalyzed a renaissance of interest in the game that coincided with its emerging popularity in the United States and Asia. And most importantly, Ronaldo became the first truly global sports hero that men and women all over the world admired, shared and loved, beginning with his sublime goal a game ratio at Barcelona and Inter Milan, to his heart wrenching struggles with knee injuries, back to the glory of his 2002 World Cup victory and two goals against Germany in the final. Pele was never truly a global hero because he played in a historical moment that was not wired in quite the same way as the world is today with Google, YouTube and soccer websites and discussion boards in almost every language. Maradona had few fans amongst English football supporters and his greatness was ultimately eclipsed by his decline into cocaine addiction and alcoholism. Romario paved the way for the concept of a global super-hero, but his cat-like prowess around the goal mouth paled in comparison to Ronaldo’s almost superhuman speed, strength, dribbling ability and power. Moreover, the peak years of Romario’s career coincided with the dawn of the consumer internet era as opposed to the conjunction of the peak of Ronaldo's fame with the lightning fast proliferation of internet technologies across the globe.

Add to all this the manner in which football enjoys a global popularity that trumps basketball, tennis and golf, it becomes easy to understand how Ronaldo crossed national, class, generational and gender boundaries more so than Bruce Lee, Michael Jordan, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. His fame ushered in the conditions of possibility for a transnational sports hero embraced by fans all over the entire globe. In terms of fame and global power as a cultural icon, only Michael Jackson and Madonna bear him comparison. While soccer historians would do well to begin cataloguing Ronaldo’s dizzying array of goals and records, cultural historians should take stock of the way in which Ronaldo elevated sport in general, and football in particular, to a global language with the power to galvanize audiences in all corners of the entire world. Messi stands on Ronaldo’s shoulders because his circulation in the world of contemporary popular culture derives from Ronaldo’s unprecedented, organic creation of the concept of a truly global sports hero for the very first time.

The above article features a post-February 14, 2011 update to the original December 4 posting.

The Effortlessness of Lionel Messi

He is the greatest football player since Kaka and Ronaldinho. At the tender age of 23, he has yet to make his mark in a World Cup for Argentina, but if form holds, he is destined to earn career achievement comparisons with Maradona, Brazilian ace Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Pele. He has already won the FIFA Player of Year Award and is trailblazing Barcelona's campaign for the 2010-2011 La Liga title against Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo. His name is Lionel Messi and he is in the midst of redefining the meaning of footballing greatness.

In early adolescence, Messi struggled with a medical condition related to a growth deficiency that required nightly injections of a growth hormone. Unable to afford the treatment in Argentina, his family accepted an offer from Barcelona to pay for Messi's medical bills as part of his induction into Barca's youth team and moved from their home in Rosario, Argentina to Spain in 2000. Messi shone as a youth player for Barcelona and since then, has accompanied the team on its road to La Liga titles in 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. He finished the 2009-2010 year with 34 La Liga goals in 35 appearances for Barcelona on their way to the title as he picked up awards for the Balloon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award in the same season. Messi shone at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 but failed to score, though he recently scored for the first time against arch-rivals Brazil with a brilliant injury time goal to sink Brazil and hand Mano Menezes his first loss since taking charge of the Brazilian national football team.

Fans and pundits compare him most frequently with Diego Maradona because of their prodigious dribbling skills, diminutive stature, low center of gravity and shared Argentine heritage. Maradona himself has called Messi his "successor" on more than one occasion, though one could be forgiven for wondering whether Maradona has reconciled himself to Messi's greatness given the former's inability to realize Messi's powers at the World Cup 2010 or even in South American World Cup qualifying. Regardless of whether there exists an unspoken rivalry or jealousy on Maradona's part about Lionel Messi, a closer look at the two players reveals a number of differences at the level of technique, skill and overall style.

Effortlessly, Messi glides past one defender and then another, weaving his way through defenses by means of absurdly quick changes of direction that leave defenders in the box stunned by the speed of his change of pace. Feigning a movement in one direction and then heading in another in a flash, he leaves defenders awestruck as he dashes by them on his way toward goal. His dribbling skills rank with Maradona, Garrincha, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho save for the naturalness of his movement, and the way he blows by players as if the field were a chess game where the pawns on the opposing side offer no resistance. And in all this, there is a seeming lack of exertion on Messi's part as he plots his path toward goal through a throng of defenders. Whereas Brazilian ace Ronaldo and Maradona muscled their way past defenders like bulls with speed and supreme ball control skills, Messi draws on his deep positional awareness to find his teammates and the ball and the back of the net. True to his look as a band groupie or a Harry Potter-like, contemplative nerd, his power is cerebral and based on a keen tactical awareness of the positions of his teammates and the opposition. And in keeping with his South American heritage, the other component of Messi's magic derives from his dribbling abilities and clinical finishing power. The ball stays glued to his laces until he unloads it onto his left foot and dispatches a shot with clinical precision that rarely misses the target. Simply put, Lionel Messi is the best finisher in the game today, playing at a league above even the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba and Luis Fabiano.

He scores 3 and 4 goals per match with a frequency rarely performed by strikers such as Romario, Ronaldo, Raul and Gabriel Batistuta, all of whom were accustomed to braces but far less frequently to hat-tricks and beyond. On March 10, 2007, Messi scored a hat-trick in the El Clasico match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. In 2009, he repeated the feat with a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid. On April 7, 2010, Messi single handedly destroyed Arsenal by scoring 4 goals in a 4-1 rout of the Gunners. The 2010-2011season has witnessed two Messi hat-tricks already, one against Sevilla in a 4-0 victory on August 21, 2010 and another against Almeira in an 8-0 Barcelona victory on November 20, 2010.

Messi's most touted goal so far was against Getafe on April 18, 2007, where he defeated five Getafe players plus the goalkeeper in a goal that drew widespread comparisons with Diego Maradona's second goal against England in the World Cup of 1986. But he has scored brilliant goals since then against more experienced and tactically savvy defenses such as those of Valencia, Zaragoza, Real Madrid, Arsenal and most recently, Brazil, that have ironically drawn less media attention than the goal against Getafe because of the sheer effortlessness of his accomplishment in putting the ball in the back of the net. Messi's effortlessness conceals his raw talent and uncanny positional awareness of how to navigate through mazes of defenders and score with comparative ease. Ironically, however, the world would do well to watch the spectacle of his career unfold with baited breath since—beneath his modesty, shyness and music groupie-like appearance—we are witnessing one of the greatest football players of all time soar toward the peak of his career. The next test of Messi's greatness will be how he handles Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo at this season's first El Clasico on November 29. Given how their flagship striker is in the hottest of form having scored in 9 straight Barcelona games, Barca fans could be forgiven for expecting Messi to shred Real Madrid's defense into tatters at the Nou Camp on Monday.

Menezes, Batista, Messi and Ronaldinho Quotes on Argentina 1-Brazil 0

Mano Menezes, Ronaldinho, Victor, Sergio Batista and Lionel Messi had the following to say after Argentina's 1-0 victory against Brazil in an international friendly at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on November 17, 2010.

Brazil

Mano Menezes: Coach

"We have to look at this result with serenity. We created several chances, the final result was not fair, but we have to learn from everything that happened."

"We played an even match with Argentina. We were closer to victory throughout the second half, but I think our team lacked experience near the end of the match. You can't allow a goal at a time like that."

"It was important to go through these four matches with an idea of the team's potential and of how it can keep improving.”

“Ronaldinho did well, taking responsibility for creating offensive moves. He was substituted because of his physical condition and not because of his performance. We brought him back to the Selecao at the right time”

“They weren’t hurting us, but Messi had reserved one extra move for Argentina.”

Ronaldinho

“He is the world’s best player, and unfortunately for us he found a gap and with his quality settled the match when it already looked like a draw,”

Victor

"We controlled the match, they barely had any chances to score. But in one play Messi made the difference."

Argentina

Sergio Batista: Coach

“We have the best player in the world and we made the most of that. I’m not going to discover now who he is because he is the world’s best player. But you can always hope for more from a player of Messi’s quality.”

Lionel Messi

"I had planned that before playing. I always looked for my chance."

"It's always important to win and this victory is even more important because it's against a direct rival and it gives us confidence.”

"My goal was important because it enabled us to beat Brazil."

Argentina 1 - Brazil 0: Messi sinks Brazil in Doha Friendly

In a moment of injury time magic, FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi weaved through a tangle of Brazilian defenders and dispatched a left footed shot past goalkeeper Victor to seal a stunning, last minute 1-0 victory for Argentina against Brazil at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar today. Messi's goal ended a 5 match winless streak for the Albiceleste against Brazil and, amazingly enough, marked his first ever goal against the Selecao. The goal did justice to a match rife with high percentage scoring opportunities from both teams. Brazil pressed the attack in the first half with Dani Alves and Andre Santos roaring down both flanks, and Alves, in particular, threatening the Argentine goal. Brazilian midfielders Lucas, Ramires and Elias aggressively closed down the Argentine attack while playing without the ball and, conversely, distributed nicely to Neymar, Robinho and Ronaldinho when surging forward. Alves had the first real scoring opportunity of the match when a one-two pass with David Luiz enabled him to fire a rocket at the Argentine goal that hit the cross bar. Later in the half, a Neymar corner resulted in a ball falling to Ronaldinho in the box who, with his back to goal, opted for a back heel strike that goalkeeper Romero scooped up comfortably. Dinho also threatened the Argentine goal with a curling free kick off his right foot that Romero punched out of danger. As the half progressed, Argentina began to collect themselves and posed their own threats on goal with shots from Gonzalo Higuain saved by Victor in a match that was rapidly turning into a showcase for goalkeeping talent. Messi started to impose himself in the Argentine midfield and began one of his patented, Maradona-like runs based off passes from Zanetti and Banega that resulted in a long range, left footed shot that sailed over the crossbar by inches.

The second half continued the end to end football that fans expected from the South American clasico with Neymar and Robinho running at defenders and setting up dangerous free kick opportunities for Ronaldinho and Dani Alves. On the Argentine side of the equation, the substitution of Ezequiel Lavezzi for Higuain paid dividends as the Napoli striker created opportunities for Lionel Messi by commanding the right flank and distracting Andre Santos and David Luiz in the process. In the 56th minute, Lavezzi tore down the right flank and passed to Javier Pastore, whose shot appeared to have been blocked by the elbow of Thiago Silva, though no penalty was awarded. Meanwhile, Neymar continued to press the attack for Brazil and found himself repeatedly fouled and manhandled the closer he got to goal. In the 63rd minute, the Argentine defense hacked down Neymar in the box and the ball neatly fell to Robinho, but his shot went just wide.

Mano's flurry of substitutions with twenty minutes remaining--Douglas for Ronaldinho, Andre for Neymar and Jucilei for Ramires--seemed to suggest resignation to a 0-0 draw and an accompanying decision to provide his young players with much needed international experience. But Ramires's departure marked a deep, tactical mistake by Menezes because it freed Messi to find space in midfield that he had rarely enjoyed before. Deep into injury time, the Barcelona number 10 picked up the ball near center circle, burst forward, cut the ball onto his left foot and hit a lawnmower of a shot past Victor's left to seal a landmark victory for Argentina after their humiliating, 3-1 loss at home to Brazil in Rosario in World Cup qualifying in September 2009 and the team's recent 1-0 loss to Japan under coach Batista himself.

This was a humiliating defeat for Brazil as it exposed their lack of a single, world class, pure striker. Ronaldinho did his best to generate attacking opportunities alongside Corinthians star Elias but he lacked a powerful center forward such as Luis Fabiano with the strength to carve out that extra yard of space and put the ball in the back of the net. On the brighter side, Brazil's midfield is finally starting to click as the Lucas-Ramires partnership promises to bring much needed coherence to the team, although they still lack a creative playmaker in the form of Kaka, Elano or Paulo Henrique Ganso.

Despite not having as many high percentage shots on goal, Argentina clearly deserved the victory because Batista succeded where Maradona failed in freeing up Lionel Messi, the best striker in the world. Batista will have to worry about his defense, however, as he cannot rely on Romero to bail out the Albiceleste as often as he did today in Doha.

Overall, this was great end to end football and a tantalizing glimpse of two teams who will, in all likelihood, be the clear favorites for the World Cup in 2014, based as it will be on South American soil in Brazil. If Mano shores up his strikeforce with more mature incarnations of Neymar, Pato and Andre, Batista consolidates his defense, and Messi stays fit, the Selecao v. Albiceleste will probably be everyone's favored match-up for the World Cup final in 2014.

Team Captains:

Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)
Robinho (Brazil)

Shirt Numbers:

Argentina

Messi: 10
Higuain: 9

Brazil

Neymar: 11
Ronaldinho: 10
Robinho: 9

For more on the history of Brazil v. Argentina, see:
Bringing Back the Beautiful Game: Brazil v. Argentina: A Brief World Cup History