Location: Mineirão, Belo Horizonte Time: 19:45 EST Standings Pos....................Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Brazil ____10...6..3.1.23...9 .+14 21..2 5 Argentina _10..4..4.2.11....9..+2...16 1 Convocados Goleiros Alisson - Roma Alex Muralha - Flamengo Weverton - Atlético Paranaense Zagueiros Gil - Shandong Luneng Marquinhos - PSG Miranda - Inter de Milão Rodrigo Caio - São Paulo Thiago Silva - PSG Laterais Daniel Alves - Juventus Fagner - Corinthians Filipe Luis - Atlético de Madrid Marcelo - Real Madrid Meias Casemiro - Real Madrid Fernandinho - Manchester City Giuliano - Zenit Lucas Lima - Santos Paulinho - Gangzhou Evergrande Philippe Coutinho - Liverpool Renato Augusto - Beijin Guoan Willian - Chelsea Atacantes Firmino - Liverpool Douglas Costa - Bayern de Munique Gabriel Jesus - Palmeiras Neymar - Barcelona Técnico: Tite Never too early to start a Brasil x Argentina game thread. The call up list may change due to injuries but Tite is basically sticking to his guns. We may see the return of Casemiro (still recovering) and Marcelo (already playing) ... and maybe the debut of Douglas Costa under Tite which should be interesting. We go into this game pretty relaxed as we've taken a pretty comfortable spot at the top of the table. This game will be interesting from the perspective of seeing how Tite handles his first real big name opponent. Argentina on the other hand is in crisis but they will have Messi back. A defeat could see them drop to 7th place. On a side note, the last 3 WCQ games vs Argentina have been in the Mineirão. I wonder why.
Argh, I had an entire draft but you beat me to it! In any case, here's the text of what I was going to post. **************** Brazil returns to home soil in the 2018 World Cup Qualifying tournament with greater confidence and strengthened resolve as in a few months it has climbed to the top of CONMEBOL's league table. 4 consecutive wins have marked Tite's stint as manager, and Brazil will have a "prova de fogo" as it hosts eternal archnemesis Argentina. The roster is mostly unchanged from the selections made for the October fixtures against Bolivia and Venezuela. Rodrigo Caio, one of São Paulo's few good performers as of late, joins the 4-man back line of Gil, Marquinhos, Miranda, and Thiago Silva as a potential backup for Real Madrid defensive midfielder Casemiro, who has been injured and who as of late October has not yet fully recovered full form. The midfield and offensive lines are almost identical as well, with Oscar and Rafael Carioca now absent and with Bayern Munchen's Douglas Costa back. A victory in Belo Horizonte would propel Brazil one step closer to a direct spot in the 2018 tournament and bring an enviable 5-win consecutive streak, increasing Brazil's momentum even further as it visits Peru a few days later. Argentina - always a difficult adversary - is in a diametrically opposite position: 2 home qualifying defeats (Ecuador 0-2 and Paraguay 0-1) have brought heavy criticism to new manager Edgardo Bauza, and there are angry voices claiming the time has come for a radical roster shake-up. The visiting team was hit with unpleasant news on November 1, when FIFA announced that Bolivia would be sanctioned for its fielding of Nelson Cabrera, a Paraguay-born player who did not meet all of FIFA’s naturalization requirements (living in the adopted country for 5 years). This decision cost Bolivia 4 points (3 from its 9/1/2016 win over Peru and 1 from a goalless draw with Chile 5 days later), and awarded 3-0 wins plus 3 points to both Peru and Chile, who complained to FIFA about Cabrera’s participation. Chile therefore now holds the 5th position with the same 16 points as Argentina but more goals scored (18 vs. 11). As visitors in this tournament, the following is Argentina's record until this match: 0-0 at Paraguay 1-0 at Colombia 2-1 at Chile 2-2 at Venezuela 2-2 at Peru Paradoxically, although it is in the middle of a crisis, Argentina is unbeaten as a visitor. The last two results, however, were unsatisfactory for our opponents: Argentina trailed Venezuela 2-0 before it equalized, and a terrible error by Javier Mascherano produced Peru's tying goal, thereby depriving Argentina of 3 precious points. I personally expect this to be a chess match. Tite and Bauza are both avid students of the game; they are master tacticians, and as the Corinthians vs. San Lorenzo matches (1-0, 0-0 for Corinthians) showed in the 2015 Libertadores, these managers know how to deploy their teams to offset the opposing teams' strengths. Bauza is likely to crowd the midfield so as to stifle Brazilian playmaking. Tite will count on his fast front like (Neymar and Gabriel Jesus) to torment Argentina's aging full-backs, and if Messi is in shape, Brazil's defenders will have to be on their best day to contain the Barcelona star.
Paradoxically ? That sounds too sophisticated. I was just thinking of opening the thread with the following picture ...
Hehehhe.... that's an oldie from the early 2000s. I'm sure you'd like nothing more than a Brazil victory spearheaded by your man Gabriel Jesus. But even if he doesn't score, I am beginning to believe Gabriel Jesus is the main name in the next generation of Brazilian standouts - the "underclassmen" to Neymar's generation, if you will. I strongly doubt Palmeiras will be able to hold on to Gabriel Jesus too much longer, but if it does, it will be interesting to see this young man at the 2017 Libertadores. It'd be awesome for him and for Palmeiras & its fans if he emulates Neymar's 2011 performance. As for next week's match - I said my piece above. The Argentines will come out swinging as they have no choice but to win, but they know that we too will be "armed and ready" for them. I very much hope Casemiro is cleared to play by the medical staff - Brazil gains tremendously with him in the midfield. It's going to be a chess match. Some Argentine fans are saying we're going to win by goleada, and while I'd love that, I see a narrow-margin win (or even a draw) as the most realistic result. I call Brazil as the winner. (The Argentines have been very critical of Edgardo Bauza - there are accusations of "amiguismo," that Messi is the one selecting the players. A defeat in Brazil would only fan the flames against Bauza; a lopsided win, combined with a draw or even a defeat vs. Colombia a few days later, may well get him fired.)
I disagree with this, a draw would be perfectly fine for Argentina in this match. An away point and winning the 4 remaining home games (Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru) should be enough to be at least 5th (29 points).
I'm giving my Election Day 2 cents.. Hillary will be President Despite the fact that Messi and Masch travelled to Brazil on Neymar's jet we will whoop Argentina on Thursday 3-1!! And we will go on to beat Peru on Tuesday and get our revenge for the Copa and beat them 2-0!!
Technically, this is true. But that they would be content with a draw indicates they can only afford modest expectations thanks to the current state of their team - uneven play from game to game and 6th place in the rankings. Furthermore, they may not defeat Colombia and Chile; they very well might, but if they draw these two games, that's 2 points out of 6 when every point will count. And if they lose to Brazil before drawing Colombia at home, they'll go into 2017 under severe pressure - perhaps enough to cost Edgardo Bauza's employment.
Maybe you can also tell us who will win the 2020 election, and whether the DJIA will hit 25,000 points by then...
Of course o porco will be champions. Too bad for meu querido Mengao, I was really hoping. Of course Argies desperately need this win after repeated poor results, so they will come out blasting, which is fine. Their defense is poor and their coach even worse. Trump on top so far. HOLY SHIT !!!