Brazil and Argentina will meet on Tuesday, July 2nd, at the Estadio Mineirão, in Belo Horizonte, in the first semifinal match of CONMEBOL Copa América Brazil 2019, for a place in the final of the tournament that will be held next Sunday in Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro.
The game will be the first match in the history of the CONMEBOL Copa America, in which both teams compete for a place in the final.
The Canarinha has never lost the CONMEBOL Copa America because it played at home, while the Albiceleste hopes to win the title again, in which it has not won since the 1993 edition in Ecuador.
A little bit of history
The continent's two great powers have met in 105 games: Brazil completed 42 victories and Argentina 38, drawing 25 times. In the CONMEBOL Copa América, the Brazil-Argentina duel is the most repeated in the history of the tournament; they have met 32 times, with 15 wins for the Albiceleste and nine for Canarinha with eight draws.
Argentina has 14 continental titles against Brazil's 8, which has five world titles for two from La Albiceleste.
There is a favorite?
"It's hard to say who is the favorite when you play against Brazil and Argentina, both are locals, who have to go out and show to their people, the ones who have come with their project for the longest time, they're players who come with the same coach, the same idea, it's the same game", Messi said.
The Canarinha reaches the semifinals without conceding a goal in their four games.
Brazil was reinforced by a 5-0 defeat against Peru, but it is difficult for them to break down the closed defenses. The meeting with Paraguay in the quarterfinals ended with a 4-3 win on penalties.
Argentina, on the other hand, began with a 2-0 loss against Colombia, then drew 1-1 with Paraguay and qualified for the next round after beating Qatar 2-0 and then defeating Venezuela in the quarterfinals by the same score.
Casemiro, is back
For the local team, the figure of Everton, Gremio striker, emerged in the tournament. Tite's alignment wouldn't bring surprises while Firmino and Gabriel Jesus would accompany him on the offensive.
Casemiro returns to midfield after being suspended for yellow cards, and the only doubt in the flank is Filipe Luis, who suffered from leg pain and may be replaced by Alex Sandro.
Richarlison has already recovered from the mumps he suffered and rejoined the team, although he will not be part of the match.
Lionel analyzes his games
When analyzing the first four games played with his national team, the Argentine Lionel Messi considered that "I'm not doing my best in the CONMEBOL Copa América, but there are games that come in this way", said the Barcelona player.
For Argentina, meanwhile, the Italian Inter striker Lautaro Martínez and Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero have stood out. "We're showing that in every game we do everything," Lautaro said.
"It's clear that all caution is little for a team with the best player in the world," said Brazilian defender Thiago Silva.
Going forward
This Tuesday, when the Ecuadorian referee Roddy Zambrano whistles the beginning of the game at 21:30 local time, the Brazilians expect an Argentina to attack, in a tournament where goals have been missing during the 90 minutes in the quarterfinals.
"I don't think Argentina will come to defend, because they have quality players who attack a lot, I think they're going to come on top of us", said the forward Gabriel Jesús.
Possible line-ups:
Brasil: Alisson - Dani Alves, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Filipe Luis o Alex Sandro - Arthur, Philippe Coutinho, Casemiro - Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Everton.
Coach: Tite.
Argentina: Franco Armani - Juan Foyth, German Pezzela, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico - Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Marcos Acuña - Lionel Messi - Sergio Agüero, Lautaro Martínez.
Coach: Lionel Scaloni.
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (ECU)
