Brazil Crushes Argentina in Final

On July 15, thanks to its impressive form in previous matches, Argentina was the clear favorite to win the final of the 2007 Copa America. Its rival Brazil had been much criticized by the local press after losing its first match against Mexico and only managing to draw with Ecuador in its second.

The final was played at the Pachencho Romero Stadium in Maracaibo and, apart from bringing together the two most powerful squads in the continent, was a chance to see who would win the personal duel between Lionel Messi and Robinho. Messi plays for Barcelona in the Spanish first division, while Robinho plays for Barcelona's archrival Real Madrid, which recently became champions of the 2006-2007 season.

Brazil struck the first blow, however, after only three minutes of play, as Julio Baptista scored a spectacular long-range goal from nearly 30 meters. Just four minutes later, Juan Roman Riquelme nearly equalized after a great combination of passes; but his hard shot hit the crossbar of Doni's goal. It seemed that after this missed opportunity the Argentinean players sensed that it would not be their afternoon. They were further demoralized in the 40th minute as captain Roberto Ayala scored an own goal while trying to intercept a cross by Daniel Alves of Brazil.

Brazil continued playing effective football for the rest of the first half. Argentina's attempts to score were constantly blocked.

It would be Alves again who would give the knockout punch for Brazil in the 68th minute as he finished off a well-created counterattack with a precise low shot. From then on, Argentina became completely demoralized and gave up trying to equalize.

With this victory, Brazil has now won the Copa America on eight occasions. Mexico took third place after defeating Uruguay 3-1 on July 14.

The general opinion of the South American press and fans is that this year's edition of Copa America was a total success due to the impressive new stadiums built for the occasion by the Venezuelan government and the many goals scored (86) during the competition.

posted by nscafuro @ 3:25 PM