Brazil and Argentina, the eternal rivals in football
(CNN Spanish) --
It is one of the soccer rivalries that most arouses passions and emotions around the planet.
Brazil and Argentina or Argentina and Brazil, because always, even in the order of a sentence, the first place between these two teams is at stake.
Why do Brazilian and Argentine soccer collide on the field?
Let's start with the background in the beautiful game.
Soccer is a competition that, in addition to moving large amounts of money and juicy economic prizes, also generates a feeling of pride and belonging.
Each citizen is transformed into a flag, enjoys and suffers with the selection of his country.
So if we add pride + awards + passion, it creates the perfect combination to generate competition that varies from country to country.
Not everyone lives them with the same passion, a feeling that is abundant in Argentina and Brazil.
22 players behind a ball and aiming to get it into two courts sounds like little fun.
Now, Brazil and Argentina don't just run after a ball.
These two referents of world soccer add shine to each play, with them the difficult seems easy, the level of competition rises and, in addition, they give the additional effort in order to defend national pride.
That is why the "Jogo bonito" and the "Argentine claw" have always collided.
While one wants to show off, the other will do the impossible not to allow it.
Where did football arrive first, Brazil or Argentina?
We cannot say for sure which of the two countries football arrived at first.
There are those who claim that he went to Brazil while another group believes that he went to Argentina.
What we can talk about for sure is which of the two countries was the pioneer in organizing this sport.
The AFA, Argentine Football Association, was founded in 1893 and became the first in the American continent to affiliate with FIFA.
On the other side of the coin, it was not until 1914 that Brazil formed the CBF (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol), ceding 21 years to its arch-rival in the management and organization of professional football.
The parties that were creating the rivalry
The first known official match between Brazil and Argentina was the Copa América final in 1925. An unusual date, by the way.
It was on a Sunday, December 25, when Argentina defeated Brazil 4-1 at the Barracas sports stadium in Argentina.
An intense and physical encounter where it is believed that the great South American rivalry began.
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Later, the two teams would face each other in four additional finals in a Copa América in the years 1937, 2004, 2007 and 2021. It was in the 2021 final where Messi was not only able to finally lift a title, but also the Argentine team was able to defeat to Brazil after losing the finals of 2004 and 2007. The account currently goes 3-2 in favor of the Argentines in finals played between them in the Copa América and 15-9 in total titles of the same tournament in favor of Argentina.
The intensity, the nerves, the physical game and the fights between players have always been a common denominator in all of them.
The controversy in the Roca Cup of 1939.
The final had to be defined in 4 games as a result of an altercation as a result of a penalty called in favor of Brazil minutes before the end of the second game.
On that occasion all the Argentine players withdrew from the field in protest towards the referee.
The series was tied 1-1, the third game ended tied and Argentina would be crowned champions 3-0 against Brazil at Parque Antarctica in São Paulo in a vibrant fourth game.
If Brazil and Argentina are together in the World Cup group, it will be classified as the 'death'.
For this reason four games have made the world stop for 90 minutes during the World Cup.
In 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1990, the two teams met and did not disappoint football lovers.
The group stage of 1978.
Brazil and Argentina were in group B. Both had already won their first game and it was their turn to face each other and try to take advantage of the general score.
The game that would later be baptized as the "Battle of Rosario" ended in a goalless draw.
This left them with the need to close the third with a victory.
Brazil would face Poland and win 3-0.
This left Argentina with the obligation to beat Peru by a difference of 4 goals if they wanted to qualify for the next round.
In a controversial game that began several hours after the end of Brazil, the Peruvian team was defeated 6-0 by Argentina.
A defeat that would generate many doubts about Peru's real desire to win the match.
Luck would be tilted for Brazil in the 1982 World Cup.
Group C or "group of death" with Brazil, Argentina and Italy, marked the history of the World Cup.
Italy prevailed 2-1 over Argentina in the first match.
Now Argentina needed to beat Brazil in the second game, but it wouldn't be like that.
The final score of 3-1, the frustration of the arbitration and the doors of an imminent defeat, Diego Maradona kicked the Brazilian player Batista being expelled with a direct red card.
More controversy?
Without a doubt we find it in the 1990 World Cup in Italy where one of the biggest sports scandals in modern football was recorded.
We won't go into details, but if you're interested in more about this scandal, read about the 'El agua bendita' match.
And how can we forget Brazil's 4-1 thrashing of Argentina in the Confederations Cup final in 2005?
Led by Carlos Alberto Parreira, the team had Adriano, Kaká and Ronaldinho.
A difficult bone to crack for Argentina.
numbers don't lie
Neither do the statistics.
The two teams have met a total of 107 times.
The great Argentina have won 40 times while the mighty Brazil have taken 44 wins.
The distribution is very tight if we take into account that they have also drawn 22% of the total matches (23 draws).
The fight for first place also extends to other continental tournaments.
For example, in the 2022 edition of the Copa Libertadores, only Brazilian and Argentine teams were left from the round of 16.
The story seems endless
Argentine roast or Brazilian roast?
Pele or Maradona?
Neymar or Messi?
The list of comparisons seems endless and neither does the story.
Both countries seem to be an infinite quarry in the training of soccer players, which means that over the years they remain in the elite of world soccer and the desire to be the best remains alive.
Thus, when these two old acquaintances face each other, there is only one objective: to prove who is the best.
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