Soccer Rivalries- Brazil vs Argentina
Bitter Rivalries
In every sport there are some intense rivalries among two parties in which fans show a dislike towards their opponents. For instance, in the world of baseball Giants fans do not like Dodgers fans and vice-versa. In basketball , Boston Celtics have a bitter rivalry towards Lakers fans that have transcended thru the years. In recent years we have seeing some basketball rivalries being born as well as being re-introduced to the fans. Other sports such as football and NCAA basketball have some intense rivalries that keep their fans in the edge of their seats. Just like those sports soccer follows suit with those intense clashes among two clubs or two diverse nations.
Throughout this blog I will go in detail of the intense and sometimes violent rivalry among the world best soccer nations in the entire world which are the Brazil national team versus the Argentina national team. I will go in detail about how the rivalry transcends generations, the huge debate among soccer peers on who was the best player in the world between Diego Armando Maradona or Pele. Also, we will take a look towards the future and see how this rivalry will get more intense or the completely opposite. Always remember this blog is my opinion and I am always looking forward to see other's opinions.
Five Time Champions
Brazil National Soccer Team
The most decorated nation in terms of winning world cups the Brazilian national team that has produced many players and continue to bring joy to fans around the world with the way Brazilians play the beautiful game. Since the introduction of the first world cup in 1930 the Brazilian national team is the only national team to participate in all world cups which is a very impressive record to obtain. Even though the national team has participated in all competitions since the 1930, the major title from the tournament did not come until 1958 in Sweden with arguably one of the best players to grace the game, Pele. Following the success in 58, Pele and company became two time champions in 62 in Chile with a victory against Czechoslovakia and later on Pele became a three time champion in 1970 with a victory against Italy in the final.
Following the success of 1970, the Brazilian National team went through a championship drought until 1994 when the world cup took center stage in the United States in which Brazil defeated once again the Italians in the first final that was decided in penalty kicks after Roberto Baggio missed his penalty kick. In the following world cup, Brazil was once again featured in the final but it was heavily defeated by the French opposition. Brazil would find success once more in 2002 when the tournament took place for the first time in Asia in which Brazil defeated Germany with two goals of Ronaldo. Since then, the Brazilian national team has had some ups and downs especially with the constant changing of the coaching staff and the decline of some of Brazil's top players.
As mentioned before Brazil national team is the most decorated soccer nation and their desire to be the best is undeniable , but one nation that believe they are the most gifted in playing soccer are the Argentinians.
Argentina National Team
Argentinian National Team
The Argentinian soccer national team has also one of the most accomplished soccer national teams in the whole world especially with players such as Messi, Di Maria and Aguero. Also, the Argentinian team has won two world cups in 1978 and 1986. When Argentinian national team won the first world cup back in 1978, it became one of the few nations that accomplished that feat in being the host as well as the champion, in which its bitter rival Brazil has failed to achieve in both occasions when it was the host of the world cup. In 1986, when the world cup took place once again Mexico, Argentina defeated West Germany to win the world cup for the second time in their history but their championship win did not come without some controversy from Diego Maradona and the infamous "Hand of God". The last major title that the Argentinian national team achieved was in 1993 in a Copa America final and since then the national team has been featured in several finals especially in recent years but has lost them all.
The lackluster performances from the Argentinian national team has intensify their rivalry with neighbor country Brazil and some can argue that this rivalry among the two nations will not go away anytime soon especially the provocation from Argentinians towards Brazil after last world cup's result. Following the heavy defeat from Brazil's national team against Germany, Argentinian fans started putting signs that read 7-1 which is pure provocation of that game between Germany and Brazil. However, Brazilians also provoke Argentina because they have not being able to win any major tournament including Copa Americas since 1993 especially with the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.
The intensity of Brazil and Argentina's rivalry has transcended generations, in the following paragraphs I will go in depth on why the clash between the two nations is always going to be hot topic among soccer analysts around the world especially when we are talking about who has produced the best player in the world.
Brazil vs Argentina- Who is Better?
In recent years the rivalry among Brazil and Argentina have reached new heights especially in terms of who has the better national team or has the best player. The rivalry is so intense between the two nations that even if one nation does not play against each other there is some what type of provocation between the fans. For instance in the South Africa World Cup Germany beat Argentina 4-0 which lead to the firing of their coach, their elimination in the group stage at the 2002 World Cup also lead to some provocation from Brazilian fans. On the other side, there were some provocation from Argentinian fans when Brazil lost to Germany in 2014 and when Brazil was having a difficult time to qualify to the 2002 World Cup. In other words if Brazil or Argentina have a bad a result or a difficult time against a tough competition it will intensity this rivalry even more. Another aspect of this heated rivalry is the huge debate on who has the best team.
Brazilians and Argentinians alike believe they have the best players available but what really matters is how many championships one nation possess. If we are considering only championships that one nation has won, Brazil wins that criteria because Argentina has not won any major titles like World Cups or even Copa Americas since 1993. In terms of producing the best starting line up both nations have produced some great players from the years from Di Maria, Messi, Zanetti, Aguero, HiguaĆn, Zabayeta and others for Argentina and Brazil have produced numerous players as well such as Romario, Bebeto, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Kaka, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and others. However, the huge debate among fans from both nations is who has the best player ever to grace the game.
Brazil won three championships in span of 12 years with the exception of the 1966 World Cup with Pele being a three time champion and Argentina won two championships in 78 and 86 the second championship Maradona was their captain. The debate among Brazil and Argentina as well as other soccer nations is who was better Pele or Maradona. In my opinion both players were great for the game but I think Pele was a more complete player and it helped him that he was surrounded by some great talent as well. Do not get me wrong Maradona also had some great partnerships with him but I think his addiction to drugs ruined an even more promising career. The continuing debate of who was better still talked about nowadays, which is one of the reasons on why both neighboring countries' rivalry will never cease to exist and I believe it will only intensify throughout the years especially with other debates on who has the best player.
Once again thanks for reading and hopefully this was a fun reading.