Argentina is the new Brazil
Brazil may have won the Copa America again over Argentina but they did it playing like Italy. Don't get me wrong: I like Italy but I've come to expect something different from Brazil. The aspect of Brazil's win that other nations should find most chilling is a new-found deadliness in front of goal. Except for a patch in the 8os and early 90s Brazil won by profligacy. They made so many chances that eventually they scored even on a bad day. No longer. This was a counter-attacking team today. Argentina controlled the play and even against a massed defence made enough chances to win. When Riquelme hit the post about 10 minutes after Julio Baptiste opened the scoring I had the sense it wasn't going to be Argentina's day. The most disturbing aspect of the game was the way Brazil made sure that they committed fouls 10-20 yards from the box; this is Carlos Dunga. I didn't see the final count but there must have been 20 or more, mainly on Messi. Far enough out to take away the threat of a direct strike.