The Argentina–Brazil football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans. Games between the two teams, even those that are only friendly matches, are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents. This rivalry is also called the "Battle of the South Americans."

Origins [edit]

The origins of the football rivalry between Argentina and Brazil can be traced to before football became so popular in both countries. During the colonization of America, Spain and Portugal often fought each other to gain control over vast territories.

Today few remember wars and other political confrontations between both countries, and only recall matches, victories, goals and other sport-related incidents. Their rivalry is found in almost all sports, but a men's football match between Argentina and Brazil is one that neither side wants to lose, and often acquires more importance than the championship within which it takes place. To exemplify the intensity of this rivalry, is enough to remember that after the 1946 incidents (see below), the two teams did not play against each other for ten years; either team would decline to play a given cup so that they would never have to play against the neighboring country.

Games statistics [edit]

Since their first match in 1914, the national teams have played 101 matches counting friendlies, World Cup, and other official competitions (excluding matches between youth sides).

Even though there is a difference depending on whether the Argentine Football Association (AFA) or the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) does the counting, the near-balance is not in dispute. Of the 101 matches played between both national teams, 24 were draws, 40 were Brazilian victories and 37 for Argentina, with 157 goals for Argentina and 158 for Brazil. Only counting World Cup matches Brazil is ahead with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, whereas in the Copa América, Argentina has 15 victories, 8 draws and 9 defeats. Of 50 friendly matches, 19 were for Brazil, 17 for Argentina and 14 were draws. Since the first match between the two countries in 1914, the 1970s proved to be dark times for Argentina, with 7 defeats, 4 draws and only 1 victory. Biggest wins are, for Argentina 6–1 (at home in Buenos Aires, 1940) and 1–5 (away at Rio de Janeiro, 1939), for Brazil 6–2 (at home in Rio de Janeiro, 1945 and 1960) and 1–4 (away at Buenos Aires, 1960).^[7]

Argentina and Brazil's last continental final match took place on July 15, 2007 at Estadio José Pachencho Romero in Maracaibo, Venezuela and was the final match of Copa América 2007 which Brazil won by the score of 3–0. The first goal was scored by Júlio Baptista, while the second one was an own goal by Roberto Ayala after a pass attempt by Brazil's Dani Alves, who also scored the last goal.

The latest match between the two teams was the decision of the Superclásico de las Américas held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2012.

Pelé/Maradona rivalry [edit]

Brazilian supporter with a fake coffin with the colors of the Argentinian flag and the name "Maradona"

Among the elite group of players football fans consider as contenders for the title, best player of all time, Brazil's Pelé and Argentina's Diego Maradona are probably the most famous, and generally dominate polls on the subject. Some of their fellow countrymen also feature regularly in such debates. The next most notable pair are perhaps Garrincha (Brazilian) and Alfredo di Stéfano (Argentinian). The most dominant figures from the two countries in the modern game are Neymar (Brazilian) and Lionel Messi (Argentinian). Both Pelé and Maradona have declared Neymar and Messi their respective "successors".

However, the over-riding discussion about which of Pele and Maradona is the greater has proved to be never ending. Even though most consider them as the best players of their own times, many consider the comparison between them useless, as they played during incomparable eras, and in different leagues.^[8]

Pelé was given the title "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee.^[9] In 1999, Time Magazine named Pelé one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.^[10] Also, he was elected Football Player of the Century, by France Football's Golden Ball Winners in 1999, Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics, 1999, South America Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Pelé's 1281 goals are recognized by FIFA as the highest total achieved by a professional footballer.

The controversy reached a climax during the FIFA century awards in 2000, in which Maradona was voted Player of the Century in an official internet poll, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé. Shortly before the ceremony, FIFA unexpectedly decided to add a second award and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of football journalists that gave to Pelé the title of best player of the century to make it a draw. This move was criticized in Argentina, that suspected Pelé was rewarded for his constant support of FIFA, in contrast to Maradona's frequent criticism.^[11] Others believe that FIFA was considering issues other than football, notably Maradona's drug problem. Maradona left the ceremony right after receiving his award, and before Pelé was given his.^[12]

In another internet poll that took place in 2002, Maradona received another award from FIFA, as one of his goals was selected as the World Cup Goal of the Century. One of Pelé's goals received third place, while Maradona had a second goal selected as fourth.^[13]

In spite of their frequent confrontations,^[14] usually through quotations by the media, Pelé was the guest star of Maradona's TV show La Noche del 10 ("The Night of the #10"), where they had a friendly chat and played a bout of headers.^[15]

Famous players and football figures often give their opinion on the Maradona and Pelé rivalry, sometimes choosing one over the other.^[16] Others prefer not to compare them, as they played in very different times. Perhaps one of the most reliable comparisons available is that by the Ballon d'Or winners (elected since 1956 by voters of several countries, and arguably greatest ones to properly appreciate both players). Pelé was elected Best Player of the Century for Ballon d'Or winners and Maradona was the runner-up.^[17]

The table below presents factual data about both footballers career:

Incidents and historical matches [edit]

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1937 incident [edit]

In the South American Championship 1937 (current Copa América), the rivalry between both teams was already something of national pride. There were verbal confrontations between both parties, and Argentine fans often taunted the Brazilians by calling them macaquitos and making monkey sounds. The final match, held in Buenos Aires, was played between the two sides and was goalless after 90 minutes. In extra time, Argentina scored two goals. Questioning one of the goals and fearful for their own safety (reportedly Argentine fans insulted the Afro-Brazilian players in and outside stadium by calling them macaquitos), the Brazilian players decided to leave the stadium before the match was officially finished. The Brazilian press has since called this match "jogo da vergonha" (the shame game).^[18]

1939 incident [edit]

In 1939, there were two matches between Argentina and Brazil, both of them in Rio de Janeiro and for the Roca Cup. The first one, held in January, ended 5–1 to Argentina.

A second match was held only one week later, with the Brazilian team seeking revenge for the previous defeat. The match was vibrating; first Brazil went ahead 1–0, then Argentina recovered to lead 1–2, and Brazil then drew level at 2–2. Shortly before the end of the match the referee, the same as in the previous match, gave a dubious penalty to Brazil. Furious, Argentina player Arcadio López verbally attacked the referee and had to be escorted out of the pitch by police. The Argentine team, enraged by the actions of the referee and the police, left the pitch. The penalty that gave Brazil the 3–2 victory was scored without a goalkeeper, because the entire Argentine team had already walked off the pitch.^[18]

1945 and 1946 incidents [edit]

In the 1945 match that Brazil won by six goals to two, young Brazilian Ademir Menezes fractured Argentine Batagliero's leg. Though it seemed to be only an unfortunate accident, the game was played roughly and sometimes violently.

A few months later, the South American Championship 1946 final again involved Argentina and Brazil. There was a large media coverage, and the conviction that it would be a rough match. Twenty-eight minutes after the beginning, when both teams went for a free ball, Brazilian Jair Rosa Pinto fractured Argentine captain José Salomón's tibia and fibula. General disorder ensued, with Argentine and Brazilian players fighting on the pitch with the police. The public invaded the pitch and both teams had to go to the dressing rooms. After order was restored the game continued, and Argentina won the match 2–0. Salomon never recovered completely nor played professional football after the incident.^[19]

World Cup 1978 ("The Battle of Rosario") [edit]

The Group B of the Second Round was essentially a battle between Argentina and Brazil, and it was resolved in controversial circumstances. In the first round of group games, Brazil beat Peru 3–0 while Argentina saw off Poland 2–0. Brazil and Argentina then played out a tense and violent goalless draw - also known as A Batalha de Rosário (The Battle of Rosario), so both teams went into the last round of matches with three points. Argentina had an advantage that their match against Peru kicked off several hours after Brazil's match with Poland. Brazil won their match 3–1, so Argentina could know that they had to beat Peru by four clear goals to go through to the final. Argentina managed it with what some saw as a suspicious degree of ease. Trailing 2–0 at half-time, Peru simply collapsed in the second half, and Argentina eventually won 6–0. Rumours suggested that Peru might have been somehow illicitly induced not to try too hard (especially because the Peruvian goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga, was born in Argentina); but nothing could be proved, and Argentina met the Netherlands in the final. Brazil, denied a final place by Argentina's 6–0 win over Peru, took third place from an enterprising Italy side and were dubbed "moral champions" by coach Cláudio Coutinho, because they did not win the tournament, but did not lose a single match either.

World Cup 1982 [edit]

Group C, a true Group of Death with Brazil, Argentina and Italy, that World Cup history was made. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2–1 over Argentina's side. Argentina now needed a win over Brazil on the second day, but they were no match as the Brazilian Team attacking game, characterised by nimble, one-touch passing on-the-run, eclipsed the reigning World Champions. The final score of 3–1 — Argentina only scoring in the last minute ——could have been much higher had Brazil centre-forward Serginho not wasted a series of near-certain scoring opportunities. Frustrated because of the poor refereeing and the imminent loss, Diego Maradona kicked Brazilian player João Batista and received a straight red card.

World Cup 1990 (The holy Water Scandal) [edit]

The last time both teams met in a World Cup match was in the 1990 World Cup and featured Argentina defeating Brazil 1–0 with a goal from Claudio Caniggia after a pass from Maradona. The end of the match was controversial with Brazilian player Branco accusing the Argentina training staff of giving him a bottle of water laced with tranquillizers while they were tending to an injured player. This came years after Maradona revealed the news on an Argentine television show. The Argentinian Football Federation and the team coach of the time, Carlos Bilardo, denied that the "holy water" incident ever took place.^[20][21]

1991 Copa América match [edit]

Argentina defeated Brazil 3–2 in Santiago, Chile in the first match of the final pool. Five players were sent off: Claudio Caniggia and Mazinho after tangling in the 31st minute; Enrique and Márcio Santos for another fight in the 61st minute, with one player leaving on a stretcher; and Careca III in the 80th minute, two minutes after coming on as a substitute.^[22]

1993 Copa América match [edit]

Argentina and Brazil finished 1–1 at the 8/final match, played in Guayaquil. Brazil started winning the game, but Leo Rodríguez drew with the head after a corner kick at the second part. In the penalties, Los Gauchos defeated 5–4 and advanced to the quarter-finals. Finally, Argentina obtained this tournament defeating Mexico in the Final.

1995 Copa América match [edit]

Held in Uruguay, they met at the quarter-finals stage on 17 July 1995 . Brazilian Túlio Maravilha became famous for scoring a late equalizer five minutes from time after controlling the ball with his left arm. Despite the obvious foul, the referee (Alberto Tejada Noriega from Peru) claimed he did not see the incident and the goal stood. The game finished with a 2–2 draw and Brazil went on to win on penalties. The Argentine media labeled the incident as the "hand of the devil".^[23]

Copa América 2004 [edit]

Argentina, was winning by 2–1, but in a spectacular turn of events, Adriano Leite Ribeiro scored a goal in the last minute of the match, taking it to the penalties, where Brazil won with Júlio César stopping an impossible shot from Andrés D'Alessandro. Brazil was playing with its second team and this victory might be considered an underdog one.

2005 Confederations Cup Final [edit]

In 2005, a year just before the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Brazil and Argentina participated in the Confederations Cup. Brazil entered the competition for being the current World Cup champion at the time; however, since Brazil had also won the Copa América, the previous year, runner-up Argentina, was allowed to participate in the tournament. In the semi-finals, Brazil eliminated host nation Germany national football team, while Argentina eliminated Mexico. This competition was the first time the two rivals would meet in a final game of a tournament sponsored by FIFA. In a surprising turn of events, the Brazilian team won the game easily, thrashing the Argentinians by a score of 4–1. Adriano Leite Ribeiro scored twice for Brazil, along with Kaká and Ronaldinho; while Pablo Aimar scored Argentina's only goal.

Desábato / Grafite 2005 Incident [edit]

In a Copa Libertadores 2005 match, after a tackle by São Paulo's Grafite, the Argentine Leandro Desábato supposedly reacted with a racist insult towards Grafite (whose nickname is that because he's very dark skinned),^[24] even though the referee was standing less than three feet away and wrote in his report that he did not hear Desabato. In what was called by the Argentine media "an extremely exaggerated reaction" and by their Brazilian counterparts as "an exemplary reaction to a racist attack," Desábato was arrested after the match, handcuffed, taken to the local police station, and kept there for 40 hours. The entire Quilmes team waited for Desábato in Brazil while he was held in custody. With Desábato sent back to Argentina and after a few days of tension and media coverage of the event, Grafite finally dropped the charges.^[25]

Copa América 2007 [edit]

Brazil defeated Argentina 3–0 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, at the final pool. Goals by Júlio Baptista, Roberto Ayala (own goal) and Daniel Alves. Argentina was favored to win the match, but the Canarinhos were superior.

2008 Summer Olympics – Beijing [edit]

Brazil never having won Olympic gold in football and Argentina the defending champions met on August 19 in the semifinal game of the Summer Olympics. The game, billed as a tête-à-tête between Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho, Barcelona teammates, was in the end a hard-fought clash between two historic rivals, marred by numerous fouls and two ejections for Brazil. Argentina won convincingly, 3–0, and went on to beat Nigeria 1–0 in the final, being the first in obtaining two consecutive gold medals in football in 40 years and the third overall after the Olympic teams of the United Kingdom and Uruguay.

2010 World Cup Qualifying matches [edit]

On 5 September 2009, the two nations played their second leg in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario; the same stadium where they had played their 1978 World Cup match. The first result was a 0–0 tie in Brazil; but the Brazilian team would qualify with a victory, if Ecuador and Uruguay did not win their matches during that leg; while Argentina continued to struggle. The match was covered intensely by the media in both countries due to comments made by Diego Maradona in regards to both teams. Dunga and the Brazilian squad, on the other hand, did not say much and decided to concentrate on the game. The Brazilian team won the match by a 3–1 score, with goals from Luisão (23') and Luís Fabiano (30' and 68'). Jesús Dátolo scored for the Argentinians (65'). Brazil won what they considered a historical win (they had not won in Argentinian soil since 1995), silencing a stunned crowd in Rosario. And as a result, they also won the qualification as both Ecuador and Uruguay lost to Colombia and Peru, respectively. Argentina lost the following match to Paraguay (1–0), but was able to qualify by defeating Peru (2–1) and Uruguay (1–0) in the final two legs of qualification.

2012 Copa Sudamericana Finals [edit]

On 12 December 2012, São Paulo from Brazil and Club Atlético Tigre from Argentina were scheduled to play the second leg of 2012 Copa Sudamericana Finals in the Estádio do Morumbi, in São Paulo - the first leg, played one week before in Estadio Alberto J. Armando, in Buenos Aires, finished goalless. After the first half, when São Paulo was leading 2-0, with goals of Lucas Moura and Osvaldo Lourenço Filho, Tiger players accused police of São Paulo and private security guards assaulting the club during the halftime break and refused to return for the lawn, however, nothing has been proven and sources said was an artifice of the Argentine club to try win the title in a possible future legal battle. Therefore, São Paulo were declared as the champion.^[26]

Club Level [edit]

At club level, Argentine clubs show an important advantage over the Brazilians, Argentine clubs have won 22 Copas Libertadores, against 16 of Brazil. Who in the past the Brazilians did not gave much importance to Libertadores. However in the last 21 years the Brazilians give more importance the Libertadores, have won 11 and runner-up 9 times. See on List of Copa Libertadores finals. The Brazil shows a slight advantage in world titles, Brazilians have 10 against 9 Intercontinental Cups / FIFA Club World Cup. Second most important CONMEBOL championship, equivalent to the UEFA Europa League, is the Copa Sudamericana (after the merger of Copa Conmebol,^{[27][28][29][30][31]} Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte, which replace Supercopa Sudamericana) with a slight advantage for Argentina. Other minor events include the Recopa Sudamericana and the defunct Copa Interamericana.

In the international arena, the most successful Argentine clubs are Boca Juniors (six Libertadores and three Intercontinental Cups), Independiente (seven Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups), Estudiantes La Plata (four Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup), Club Atlético River Plate (two Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup), Vélez (one Libertadores and one Intercontinental), Argentinos Juniors (one Libertadores) and Racing Club (one Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup).

The most successful Brazilian clubs are São Paulo (three Libertadores, one FIFA Club World Cup, and two Intercontinental Cups), Santos (three Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups), Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (one Libertadores, two FIFA Club World Cup, ), Grêmio (two Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup), Internacional (two Libertadores and one FIFA Club World Cup), Cruzeiro (two Libertadores), Flamengo, (one Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup), Vasco da Gama (one Libertadores and one South American Championship of Champions). Palmeiras (one Libertadores Champions).

Women's Football [edit]

The Brazil women's national football team is a successful women's football team, though not as successful as the men's counterpart. It was runner-up in the FIFA Women's World Cup of 2007, and a Silver Medal at the Olympic games in 2004. In comparison, Argentina does not have a professional (or even semi-professional) women's football league; the members of the Argentina women's national football team are all amateur players despite their clubs often being affiliated with prominent men's professional clubs. Although the two teams usually have to battle for the top qualification spots for CONMEBOL when the World Cup qualification comes around, this rivalry does not provide the passion that men's matches encounter yet.

Brazil won every game of the Sudamericano Femenino against Argentina until the 2006 edition, when Argentina finally beat them 2–0 in the final group stage, awarding Argentina the championship. Argentina did not participate in the 1991 South American competition and was second to Brazil in the following three tournaments. Beginning with the 2003 edition, both champion and runner-up qualified for the World Cup. As Argentina has not been past the group stages in the World Cup, the two teams have not met in the Olympic Football Tournament yet.

Football Culture [edit]

Depicting the football rivalry between the two South American countries, Diego Maradona filmed a television commercial in which he is wearing the Brazilian outfit, lined up with Brazilian stars Kaká and Ronaldo, singing the Brazilian national anthem before a match. He then wakes up from the nightmare, where he can be seen wearing an Argentine national shirt in his bed, next to a bunch of empty cans of Guaraná Antarctica, a Brazilian traditional soft drink.^[32]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• (Portuguese) Brazil vs. Argentina rivalry
• Argentina vs. Brazil statistics by RSSSF
• Argentina vs. Brazil Sep 5th 2009 Results