Five-time World Cup champions Brazil will take the field on July 2 against arch-rivals Argentina for the first semi-final clash of the 2019 Copa America in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The hosts will look for a victory against Argentina as this match represents the biggest rivalry in international football. Football fans all over the world are very much excited for the much-anticipated contest.
Brazil won the quarter-final against Paraguay 4-3 in penalties after they failed to open scoring throughout the match whereas Argentina had a comfortable 2-0 victory against Venezuela with goals from Lautaro Martinez and Lo Celso.
A Neymar-less Brazil had to fight it out hard against Paraguay to score a goal but they failed. The Brazilians fans were relieved as the Selecao won the match in the penalties despite missing one themselves. Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino are trying their best to score goals but they are not been able to find the back of the net frequently. Against Paraguay, they enjoyed more than 70 per cent of the possession and were the better team on the field but could not break the deadlock.
But their defence have been rock solid throughout the tournament without conceding a single goal. Goalkeeper Alisson has been in superb form standing in front of the goal. They will look forward to beating a relatively much weaker Argentine side and give some joy to the home fans who have been waiting for 12 years for Copa America glory.
On the other hand, Argentina have qualified for the semi-final by not playing up to their standards. They were humiliated by Colombia in their first match by a three-goal margin and they somehow managed to qualify for the quarter-finals. The La Albiceleste defeated Venezuela in the quarters but their performance was not convincing enough.
Lionel Messi who is probably playing the last Copa America of his career was silent throughout the match and mostly the whole tournament. He needs to lead from the front if the La Albiceleste want to win the coveted trophy. Argentina had scrapped through till now in the tournament, but against Brazil, it will not be enough. They need to organise their midfield and defence as there is no combination or communication between the players in those positions. If they want to give some joy to the fans who have already been devastated by four back to back final losses, they need to play as a team and not depend only on Messi.
Brazil definitely have an upper hand over Argentina in the match as they have been in better form throughout the tournament. But a match like this cannot be predicted. Football fans all over the world are excited while waiting for the game to begin.
The Brazil-Argentina semi-final match will start at 9.30 PM on July 2, according to local time and 6 AM, July 3, according to IST.
Global TV listings and Live stream
Telemundo: USA
Premier Sports 1: UK
Stream: Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, ESPN+, Premier Player
How to watch in India
There has been a huge disappointment for Indian football fans as the tournament will not be telecast in the country. Fans can watch the live stream by using free VPN services and download apk's like Navixsport. The application cannot be downloaded from any play store but it is available online for free. It can be downloaded by simply searching on Google. Two search results will come, one for Android and another for iOS. The viewers have to go inside the website according to their requirements, click on free download and enjoy the match.
