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Old 07-16-2007, 09:11 AM   #142 (permalink)
mlyons
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Philadelphia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bababui View Post
Well...firstly I must give Brazil enormous kudos for a great defensive performance.....but...

Dunga's Brazil and their 3 defensive midfielders must score first against an offensive team like Argentina. Were these two teams to play again, there is no guarantee Brazil would win. They were definatly not dominate on the offensive end. They played classic counter attacking football. They are much less effective playing from behind.

And losing to Brazil doesnt mean they arent better than any other team in the world. One last thing, hate to add it, but I wonder if the result might have been different had the game been played at night and not in 90 degree heat with 70% humidity.
The best team in the world should be able to play from behind without folding up -- especially a team like Argentina that's capable of dominating possession and breaking down defenses. They aren't a classic counterattacking quick-strike team at all, really, but a short passing team that looks to work the ball around as much as possible and work a defense to death. They looked just about as ineffective doing that at 1-0 as they did at 3-0.

What we saw last night highlighted the big weaknesses to the Argentinian team I pointed out earlier: Abbondanzieri isn't a world class keeper (he failed utterly to control his area on the Ayala own goal and looked lost on Alves' goal) and Juan Roman Riquelme has a tendency to utterly disappear from a match for extended lengths of time. I still think they're one of the top teams in the world, but they're a player or two away from being the best.
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