ELIMINATÓRIAS, R6: Brasil x Argentina, 09/05/2021[R]

vs.

Location: Neo Química Arena, São Paulo


​

Brazil roster:
Goleiros
Alisson (Liverpool - ING)
Ederson (Manchester City - ING)
Weverton (Palmeiras)

Laterais
Daniel Alves (São Paulo)
Danilo (Juventus- ITA)
Alex Sandro (Juventus - ITA)
Guilherme Arana (Atlético Mineiro)

Zagueiros
Thiago Silva (Chelsea - ING)
Eder Militão (Real Madrid - ESP)
Lucas Veríssimo (Benfica)
Marquinhos (PSG)

Meio-campistas
Bruno Guimarães (Lyon - FRA)
Casemiro (Real Madrid - ESP)
Claudinho (Zenit - RUS)
Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo)
Fabinho (Liverpool - ING)
Fred (Manchester United - ING)
Lucas Paquetá (Lyon- FRA)

Atacantes
Firmino (Liverpool - ING)
Gabigol (Flamengo)
Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City - ING)
Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlim - ALE)
Neymar (PSG - FRA)
Raphinha (Leeds United - ING)
Richarlison (Everton - ING)

The above were the players originally selected by Tite. Then came a ban by England's FA clubs, forbidding players from Manchester City, Manchester United, Leeds United, Liverpool, and Chelsea. The FA teams had wanted these players back after the Chile and Argentina matches, while Brazil wanted to have them all for the third fixture as well (against Peru).

Without any agreement, Tite was forced to select replacements.

Everson (Atlético Mineiro) and Santos (Athletico Paranaense) were chosen, thus making this the first fixture in many (I would have to check) that all three goalkeepers for a WCQ fixture play in Brazil.

Miranda, an old stalwart from São Paulo, was called to replace Thiago Silva.

In midfield, Edenílson (Internacional), Gerson (Olympique de Marseille), and Matheus Nunes (Sporting - POR) were chosen. However, Sporting refused to release Mathews Nunes as he has not finished his Covid-19 vaccination protocol.

Up front, Hulk (Atlético Mineiro), Malcom (Zenit - this is the young player who scored the winning goal in the Olympic final vs. Spain), and Vinicius Júnior (Real Madrid) were selected.

Following its tough visit to Santiago, where one goal, a crucial victory, 3 more points, and an unprecedented, record-breaking and record-setting 7 consecutive WCQ wins were established, Brazil returns to home ground for one of the previously postponed WCQ fixtures.

The opponent is none other than second-place Argentina.

The nature of the Brazil vs. Argentina rivalry has changed somewhat from the 1980s and 1990s. While the rivalry still very much exists, not only between national teams but also between clubs and players, there has been somewhat of a rapprochement – at least between some players. Neymar and Messi, the two most important players in each team, are friends who developed a close relationship due to their playing time at Barcelona. It would have been rare for a final match between both teams to see the key player for each side in a long and warm embrace as occurred between them in the minutes after the 2021 Copa América final.

In decades past, Brazil vs. Argentina was not too common, minus the old Copa Roca and some friendlies, as well as Copa América matches. In contrast, with the return of the Copa Roca (now re-labeled “Superclássico das Américas) and the creation of a “every team vs. every team, home and away” WCQ format which saw Brazil and Argentina face each other in WCQ for the first time only in the year 2000, matches between both now happen more often. Since November 10, 2016 (the first time Brazil faced Argentina under Tite), this fixture will be the 7th confrontation between both sides, and with the November fixture where Argentina hosts Brazil, that’ll be 8 games in the space of 5 years.

Argentina did not rebuild well after its second-place finish in Brazil 2014 and struggled in 2018 WCQ, securing a direct berth only on the 18th round, when it defeated Ecuador. In Russia, Argentina had a 1W 1D 1L record in the group stage, being soundly beaten by Croatia by a 3-0 margin, only to then lose to eventual World Cup champions France by 4-3 in the round of 16. Jorge Sampaoli, seen as an innovative manager, arrived to take on the team’s reins late, and with little time, he never built an identity. With him gone, the Argentine federation picked inexperienced assistant coach Lionel Scaloni, who worked with Sampaoli at Sevilla and then with his country.

Scaloni struggled early on, showing his lack of management experience, although the results were not altogether bad. Under Scaloni, Argentina lost the 2018 Superclássico by 1-0, and his worst result was probably a 1-3 defeat at Venezuela on a FIFA exhibition date (March 22, 2019). But Argentina began to show improvement in 2019; while Scaloni was learning as he went, he enjoyed the advantage of a good talent pool. Scaloni led his team to the 2019 Copa América semifinals where they were defeated by hosts and eventual champion Brazil 2-0; earlier in the tournament, Argentina had lost to Colombia by the same scoreline.

That match against Brazil was the last match Argentina would lose under Scaloni’s management (at least until this visit to São Paulo). Argentina beat Mexico 4-0 and Ecuador 6-1 later in 2019, and defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Superclássico of that year.

In 2022 WCQ and in the 2021 Copa América, there have been “lampejos” – a Brazilian word for moments of brilliance – mixed with disappointments and errors. Argentina has seen a few matches which it was winning get away as opponents managed to equalize. Argentina earlier in 2021 has also shown the lack of an identity – a problem it has struggled with since 2018 WCQ. In the final against Brazil earlier this summer, Argentina played “antijogo” by fouling Brazil’s players repeatedly.

Emboldened by its performance in Brazil this past summer, Argentina visits Brazil having earned 3 points with its 1-3 win at Venezuela. Despite the several moments of questionable play earlier in WCQ, Argentina under Scaloni is undefeated (4W 3D 0L) and its defense is second only to Brazil’s (6 goals allowed vs. 2 goals allowed), while its offense, with 12 goals, is tied with Colombia’s in 3rd, behind Ecuador’s 16 and Brazil’s 17.

Having done what accomplished managers such as Basile, Pékerman, Bielsa, Martino, and Sabella failed to do – end his country’s nearly 3-decade-old title drought – the previously much-criticized young manager has now earned sufficient political capital to ensure that barring a shocking set of results in WCQ, he will be present in Qatar to lead his team in the 2022 World Cup. Scaloni has been making better player selections, now regularly including newcomers Cristian Romero and other young talents like De Paul, Lo Celso, and Lautaro Martínez on the line-up alongside veterans di María and Messi, both probably retiring from national team duty after next year’s World Cup.

For Brazilians, and especially for those who have been closely following Tite’s work since his debut match as Brazil manager 5 years ago (raises hand), it may be surprising that a manager who has far more experience, who has actually studied football management and consulted other veteran coaches, and who has won titles both at the club and country level, that Tite and Scaloni are 2-2 in head-to-head confrontations. They have never faced each other in WCQ, and this will be the 5th of their 6 scheduled meetings – that is, of course, excluding a potential 2022 World Cup confrontation. Scaloni’s future with his team is unknown and a title win would likely earn him a contract extension, whereas Tite is all but guaranteed to step down following next year’s World Cup regardless of Brazil’s final ranking in that tournament.

The first 45 minutes Brazil played in Chile were probably the worst Brazil has played under Tite; they were reminiscent of disjointed Brazil performances from before Tite’s arrival. Losing nearly half of his preferred starting XI due to the refusal of FA teams (and of Zenit) to release players for the triple WCQ round forced Tite to call up emergency replacements, some of whom play in Brazil and one of whom is 35-year-old Hulk, whose last hurrah for Brazil was being part of the 2013 Confederations Cup title campaign.

Against Chile, Brazil was slow, lacked aggressiveness in getting possession, and missed many passes. The Chilean team, deployed in a 3-5-2, was much more proactive in chasing the football, to the extent Chile looked like Brazil’s Tite from previous WCQ matches. Tite made some personnel changes at halftime which yielded results, with Brazil gradually improving and beginning to take more advantage of the space granted by the Chilean line-up and strategy – Chile is currently not eligible to be in Qatar – which forced the hosts to attack at all times. When Brazil’s players began to play more compact football, to pass better, and to exploit the spaces available to them, Brazil created more dangerous plays, one of which culminated in a good pass to Neymar in the box, who shot on target. Bravo defended Neymar’s effort, but Éverton Ribeiro was at the right place at the right time.

Tite will need to think fast with the back line – arguably his style’s strongest suit – after Marquinhos’ yellow card suspended him for this match. And with Zenit having blocked Malcom and Claudinho, Brazil had only 22 players in Chile. At least one of those players has a replacement as of today: Red Bull Bragantino’s attacking midfielder Artur, a 23-year-old talent who scored 5 goals in the 10 matches which sent the team to the Copa Sul-Americana semifinals (with 3 of them at Rosario Central in a 3-4 win and 1 at home against the same team) and 3 goals and 6 assists in the 2021 Campeonato Brasileiro. This is (I would have to check) Red Bull Bragantino’s first-ever participation in the senior national team, and one can only imagine the excitement this young star is feeling as he prepares to join Tite’s roster.

While Tite will indubitably need to analyze both his team (and the material available to him in this unusual situation) as well as the opponent, Tite should be able to extract lessons from the underwhelming first-half showing against Chile. He should be able to correct some errors in practice, and he will have the chance to deploy a different starting XI. And, Tite may also have a personal investment in this match, as winning would mean a measure of revenge against Argentina. An unprecedented and historic 8 consecutive WCQ matches would be good as well, although Tite, ever the pragmatist, is in all likelihood looking to the future – fine-tuning the team en route to the World Cup next year and avoiding (hopefully) the mistakes he made in 2018. 21 points in 7 matches in a WCQ tournament where most other teams are struggling to simply reach the middle of the league table grants Tite and Brazil the latitude not to worry about reaching Qatar.

But even though qualification is secure, Brazil must play, compete, and fight for each victory’s 3 points. Here’s to hoping those 3 points are Brazil’s at the final whistle.

The following is the head-to-head record in Brazil in WCQ:

7/26/2000: 3-1 (Alex, Vampeta, Vampeta)
6/2/2004: 3-1 (Ronaldo hat-trick)
6/18/2008: 0-0
11/10/2016: 3-0 (Philippe Coutinho, Neymar, Paulinho)

The following are the starting XI deployed by Scaloni at Venezuela on 9/2/2021 in a WCQ match:
Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Marcos Acuña, Germán Pezzella, Nicolás Otamendi; Rodrigo de Paul, Ángel Di María, Guido Rodríguez, Giovani Lo Celso; Lautaro Martínez; Lionel Messi.

 

Galvão Bueno says that Anvisa officials tried to approach the Argentine delegation at the stadium but they locked the locker room's door.

Now, the entire Argentine team walked off the pitch.

@Ombak you wrote elsewhere that maybe the immigration form wasn't clear, but respectfully, I doubt it. Written Portuguese is extremely similar to written Spanish; there's no way those four players would not have understood. Furthermore, those four players all play in the Premiership; they speak at least decent English by now, and Brazilian immigration forms contain English as well (I've seen them in recent years whenever I visited Brazil).

As Celito said, this is theatrical, and it's embarrassing. But this isn't Tite's fault nor the fault of Brazilian players. And why did CBF and the federal government allow the four players to participate in the match?

As unpleasant as this is, I'm in support of this because no one should be exempted from Brazilian laws. And Galvão Bueno is right - if this was the other way around, there's no way AFA and the Argentine national government would have conspired against that country's health authorities in barring Brazilian players who violated Argentine laws re: quarantines.

 

Galvão Bueno is on a phone call with Antonio Barra Torres, president-director of Anvisa. Torres said that it was verified, via visa stamps on passports, that the four Argentine players in question had been in the United Kingdom within the recent time period which would trigger an obligatory quarantine.

That verification, said Torres, happened between last night and today.

They violated Brazilian laws and should have been deported.

I support what Anvisa is doing. I acknowledge the optics are awful, but that's the consequence for this not being done before the match.

 

From what I know, Argentina's FA and those clubs compromised; the FA players would go back to the UK following today's match. CBF/Tite wanted its FA players for all three fixtures.

 

No, I don't know it, and you don't know what I know.

If in your country the authorities do this, that's your country's problem.

 

CBF intervened on behalf of the four Argentine players. Anvisa tried doing its job. I just heard what Mr. Torres said. His subordinates are trying to enforce the rules and laws.

Messi returned to the pitch wearing a vest (and not wearing a jersey), smiling and with Daniel Alves. Scaloni and Tite are there with Messi and Neymar.

It appears the Argentines are not going to play.

EDIT: someone asked Scaloni if his team will play. Scaloni dribbled the question: "I'm not the one who decides."

 

Do we know for a fact they didn't try before the match was underway?

 

"Unfair advantage" only because you don't get that certain countries don't abide by what passes in yours.

 

It appears there will be no match. CET personnel are already on standby near the Argentine delegation's bus. The Argentine team has locked the door of the visitor's locker room again.