In the 2004 CONMEBOL Copa America, Brazil and Argentina national teams faced each other in one of the most exciting finals of the world's oldest national team tournament.
The "Verdeamarela" had defeated Uruguay national team in the penalty shootouts, while Argentina national team reached the final after winning 3-0 against Colombia, who had been the last champion of the tournament.
The Brazilian team, led by Carlos Alberto Parreira, went out to the field with the following players: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Luisao, Juan, Gustavo Nery, Klebeberson, Renato, Edu, Alex, Adriano and LuÃs Fabiano.
Meanwhile, the 11 chosen by Marcelo Bielsa were: Roberto Abondanzieri, Fabricio Coloccini, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze, Javier Zanetti, Luis Gonzalez, Javier Mascherano, Cristian Gonzalez, Juan Pablo Sorin, Mauro Rosales and Carlos Tevez.
The match was played in Lima's National Stadium, with 43,000 spectators present, and the referee was Carlos Amarilla, from Paraguay. Both teams went out to the field wearing their home kits, being it light blue and white for Argentina, and yellow for Brazil.
19 minutes into the game, Carlos Tevez's backheel kick to Lucho Gonzalez made him throw a crossfield pass, and defender player, Luisao ended up committing a penalty. "Kily" Gonzalez was in charge of kicking it and opened the scoring for Argentina. The team led by Bielsa dominated the match, but seconds before the end of the first half, Argentina national team made a foul outside the area. The captain, Alex, took advantage of this and cross perfectly the ball for Luisao to hit it beautifully into the corner of the goal post. Argentina 1, Brazil 1.
Once the second half started, the "Albiceleste" was the one that caused the most damage. Javier Mascherano became the leader and managed the timing of the match. The plays that stood out the most were a header of Roberto Ayala, which was slightly deflected, and a center of Rosales. If Tevez or Sorin had received this pass, it would have become Argentina's second goal.
Three minutes remained for the end of the game, and Javier Zanetti blasted a center, where Sorin managed to head the ball down. However, after Renato's howler, Cesar Delgado took advantage of it and curled a fantastic shot, which made him shout the goal that seemed to define history. Argentina 2, Brazil 1.
On the one hand, there was a Brazilian team ready to attack, in search of the miracle; on the other, a very defensive Argentinian team. A poor cross done by Diego destabilized the Argentinian area. Ayala and Coloccini failed, and Adriano, being Copa America's sticker, was there to score a real screamer in two moves, which evened the match (2-2).
The match ended up in a penalty shootout. Edu, Diego and Juan scored for Brazil national team, and Gonzalez and Sorin scored for the opposing team. Unfortunately, D'Alessandro and Heinze failed. As a result, the "Verdeamarela" won its seventh CONMEBOL Copa America victory.
Recap one of the matches selected for our "Unforgettable Matches of the Copa America" section. A match between two great rivals like Argentina and Brazil, with latent and ongoing passion in every minute of the match.
Watch the recap of the game on YouTube
RECAP
Final of the 2004 Copa America Peru
Tuesday, 25 July 2004
Argentina 2 - 2 Brazil
Goals: Gonzalez (21'), Luisao (46'), Delgado (87') and Adriano (93')
Lima's National Stadium
