Argentina 4 Brazil 1

[mike412]

And, it was more one-sided than the score. Messi didn’t play, but Argentina didn’t miss him. Brazil was truly awful. Their midfield was non-existent. I think Vini Jr., playing center forward, had 7 touches. Brazil had 3 shots, one on goal. Having great attacking players doesn’t help when your MF can’t get them the ball. MacAllister and DePaul absolutely dominated the midfield. Never their strong point (remember Germany 8, Brazil 0), the Brazilian defense looked like they had reincarnated 4 David Luis’ to play.

The team Brazil fielded yesterday was not top 20 in the world.

Edit: I didn’t see the other post on this until I already had posted it. Sorry. This should have been in it.

 

[brdst11]

And, it was more one-sided than the score. Messi didn’t play, but Argentina didn’t miss him. Brazil was truly awful. Their midfield was non-existent. I think Vini Jr., playing center forward, had 7 touches. Brazil had 3 shots, one on goal. Having great attacking players doesn’t help when your MF can’t get them the ball. MacAllister and DePaul absolutely dominated the midfield. Never their strong point (remember Germany 8, Brazil 0), the Brazilian defense looked like they had reincarnated 4 David Luis’ to play.

The team Brazil fielded yesterday was not top 20 in the world.

Edit: I didn’t see the other post on this until I already had posted it. Sorry. This should have been in it.

Messi gets all the attention but it overshadows how good a job Scaloni has done. He built a team around an aging Messi that could win a WC and now looks like he's built a team that could challenge for another one without Messi or with him in a diminished role.

Mac Allister, Enzo, and Alvarez were key players in the last WC despite being young and not that far removed from playing in Argentina. Now all three are in their prime and established in Europe and looked great yesterday.

As for Brazil, Argentina has just had their number the last few years. Not as much star power as in the past but they've generally played pretty well since Junior took over as coach

 

[Fk_Pitt]

And, it was more one-sided than the score. Messi didn’t play, but Argentina didn’t miss him. Brazil was truly awful. Their midfield was non-existent. I think Vini Jr., playing center forward, had 7 touches. Brazil had 3 shots, one on goal. Having great attacking players doesn’t help when your MF can’t get them the ball. MacAllister and DePaul absolutely dominated the midfield. Never their strong point (remember Germany 8, Brazil 0), the Brazilian defense looked like they had reincarnated 4 David Luis’ to play.

The team Brazil fielded yesterday was not top 20 in the world.

Edit: I didn’t see the other post on this until I already had posted it. Sorry. This should have been in it.

Who played in the midfield for Brazil?

 

[brdst11]

Who played in the midfield for Brazil?

The 3 in the 4 2 3 1 were Cunha, Raphinha, and Rodrygo. 2 were Joelinton and Andre.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

The 3 in the 4 2 3 1 were Cunha, Raphinha, and Rodrygo. 2 were Joelinton and Andre.

Thanks. That explains a lot.

 

[brdst11]

Thanks. That explains a lot.

Definitely less star power than they've had in the past.

 

[mike412]

Thanks. That explains a lot.

They were totally overrun the entire match. MacAllister in the middle and DePaul on the right did whatever they wanted. Paredes at defensive midfielder had almost nothing to do so he kept pushing forward. I had never heard of Alameda who played on the left for Argentina, and he had limited touches, but he was fine too. MacAllister and DePaul right now are two of the top MF in the world.

In Barcelona’s two recent games against Atletico Madrid, the two Argentinians, Alvarez and DePaul, were the players that scared me the most. And Simeone, Diego’s son, is not the most talented in the world but he has a non-stop motor and the word “quit” is not in his vocabulary. Exactly what you would expect with his genes.

I kept looking at Brazil’s subs, thinking they must have top guys who are resting and will be subbed on, but apart from Endrick they had nada.

 

[brdst11]

They were totally overrun the entire match. MacAllister in the middle and DePaul on the right did whatever they wanted. Paredes at defensive midfielder had almost nothing to do so he kept pushing forward. I had never heard of Alameda who played on the left for Argentina, and he had limited touches, but he was fine too. MacAllister and DePaul right now are two of the top MF in the world.

In Barcelona’s two recent games against Atletico Madrid, the two Argentinians, Alvarez and DePaul, were the players that scared me the most. And Simeone, Diego’s son, is not the most talented in the world but he has a non-stop motor and the word “quit” is not in his vocabulary. Exactly what you would expect with his genes.

I kept looking at Brazil’s subs, thinking they must have top guys who are resting and will be subbed on, but apart from Endrick they had nada.

Almada was on the World Cup team, beating out Garnacho among others for basically the last spot. He was playing for Atlanta at the time and was the first active MLS player to win the World Cup.