Brazil vs Argentina: Don't know what to expect!

    If anyone wanted a particular match up in this year's Copa America, this wouldn't necessarily be the one but it's a huge one we have got in the semi finals. It's Brazil vs Argentina at Belo Horizonte to compete for a place in the final. Football is a crazy game and you never know what's in front of you. Over the years, we could stick our tongue out and stand for Brazil to counter attack and be really potent on the attack but this is a different Brazilian outfit. We don't really know what we are going to get from Brazil in the last third of the pitch. The good thing with it is that they have been good enough and labelled one of the favourites to win the title even without Neymar. We know that Coutinho is good enough but he had a really poor season with Barcelona but is looking good again. Brazil have gone with the 4-2-3-1 formation till now and have been pretty good with it, at least good enough! They were brilliant on the opening day against Bolivia, found a little bit difficult against Venezuela which shouldn't have happened and then they swept aside Peru with a 5-0 thrashing. The road into the knockouts was pretty much like they must have expected except for one dull performance against Venezuela. We knew that Paraguay always punch above their weight but the gulf in class between the Paraguayan side that knocked Brazil out twice before and the side Paraguay put on the park this time was massive. Nobody expected Paraguay to even give a descent fight to Brazil but my god, didn't they put on a magnificent display of grit and determination at the back. Paraguay dragged Brazil into the penalty shootout and Brazil almost got the feeling of deja vu. Same team, same stage of the tournament and it all came down to penalities again! It was Allison who bailed them out of trouble with a brilliant save. Argentina on the other hand have been all about mixed fortunes. They lost miserably against Colombia in their opening match. Some experts said that Lionel Messi didn't show up against Colombia because he had very little impact on the game. They were again very substandard against Paraguay. Paraguay actually missed a golden opportunity probably to knock Argentina out of the tournament when Derlis Gonzalez missed from the spot. Argentina were better against Qatar and they had to be. Qatar is not a team you expect to drop points against if you are Argentina. A 2-0 victory got them into the knockouts but not much was expected from this Argentina side with another newly appointed manager who seems to have no idea about managing such a star studded side. The problem with Argentina is that Messi seems to be the only man doing everything on the pitch. They started with 4-4-2 against Colombia and Paraguay, they are aweful. Then they tried the 4-3-3, they were still not great. The problem with Messi playing in front is that if he doesn't get the service from the middle, he then goes back all by himself and provides services to the likes of Martinez and Aguero. That ensures that Messi's potential is not utilized at it's max. Came the game against Venezuela and Lionel Scaloni decided to go with a 4-1-2-1-2 with Messi playing just behind Aguero & Martinez and Argentina were a lot better than the previous games, at least not aweful to be honest.
    The history between Argentina and Brazil is legendary and it dates back to 1920s. Two of the most fierce rivals, two of the most talented teams over the years and here they are once again up against each other in the Copa America semi final. The history means nothing once the ball is kicked in Belo Horizonte. The venue has very bitter memories for the hosts. It's the same venue where Brazil fell apart inside the first 40 minutes and were humiliated, humbled and taken apart by Germany with a 7-1 victory in the semi final of the World Cup. At the same time, Argentina were celebrating a place in the world cup final but missed a golden opportunity to silence all the Brazilians by winning the world cup right in their face. 2 weeks back and you might have stuck with Brazil as the favourites but with that performance against Paraguay, it hangs in balance. It's a unique kind of clash because we are not sure what we are going to get in the attack from both the teams. I personally think Brazil still have the edge but if Messi has his day, we all know what kind of stuff he can produce. Uruguay were a very strong team and a tough side to break down. Uruguay were in serious contention win the tournament but with their exit, it's really tough to label anyone as favourites. As the common sense suggests, the winner is more likely to come from this semifinal rather than the other one.