Argentina-Brazil is always a special final, says the Guardian’s Marcela Mora y Araujo, but this one runs the risk of being overshadowed — in Argentina anyway — by the Under-20 World Cup quarterfinal clash between Argentina and Mexico’s youngsters. Indeed, previews of the Copa America final have been pushed to the margins in Argentina in the wake of the terrorizing one-man show produced by Atletico Madrid’s Sergio “el Kun” Aguero, who scored two goals and set up another in perhaps the most impressive individual performance of the tournament.
Both matches are on Sunday, but the latter may be more interesting, and for a few reasons. Argentina and Mexico are both favorites, which makes their meeting in the quarterfinal unfortunate, although the winner will certainly be the favorite. It also pits together two of the tournaments biggest stars, in Atletico’s Aguero and Mexico’s Barcelona striker, Giovanni Dos Santos.
The other big reason is that given the way the senior national team has dominated its opponents, a Brazil “B” team (it’s certainly no “A” team) should suffer a similar fate. Dunga’s Brazil hasn’t looked nearly as comfortable on its way to the final as Alfio Basile’s Argentina, which is playing some of the most beautiful soccer we’ve seen from an international team in years. Anything can happen, of course, but if the real Argentina shows up, Brazil won’t be winning this Copa America final.