In some aspects, Brazil's defeat to Argentina was worse than their 1-7 loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup. At least the defeat in the World Cup semi-finals 11 years ago can be considered an emotional collapse in a few crazy minutes.
But their recent 1-4 loss to Argentina was their biggest defeat to their opponents since 1964. It was a 90 minutes to forget for Selecao when the gap between the two teams was really embarrassing.
Before the match started, Brazil was said to be able to exploit Argentina's loose defense. Albiceleste's defense has not been renewed since the 2022 World Cup and could collapse under pressure. In addition, Selecao also has speed wingers such as Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Raphinha.
And it happened, but only once in the match. Despite any pressure, Cristian Romero handled the situation slowly in front of the home team's penalty area and let Matheus Cunha rush in to steal the ball. The Brazilian striker successfully stole the ball, then accelerated and finished decisively to defeat goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
The problem was that, apart from Raphinha's subsequent free kick, Selecao barely created any further threats. Meanwhile, Argentina exploited the gaps in the visitors' defense and were capable of scoring more than 4 goals if they took advantage of the opportunity.
The gap between the two teams is clearly an alarm for Brazil. In terms of position, many Brazilian players deserve to start in the Argentina squad.
Selecao has the goalkeeper, centre-back and winger that any team in the world would like. How can a team with good players be so bad? The result against Argentina was incredible. And Brazil have been playing at this poor level for a long time.
Against Colombia last week and Chile late last year, the Selecao won with goals in the final minutes. Moments of individual talent saved them. But this time he didn't. Against an Argentina without Lionel Messi, Brazil were helpless.
After losing to Argentina, Brazil dropped to fourth in the qualifying round with 4 more matches. Selecao currently has 21 points, 6 points more than 7th place Venezuela. The top 6 teams in the South American qualifiers will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the 7th-placed team will have to play a play-off with another continent.
"I would like to take full responsibility for this failure. Argentina is much better than us in every aspect.
This match was really difficult for us. And I don't know how to explain this result. The Brazilian team simply cannot deploy the game as we planned in advance," said Brazilian coach Dorival Junior after the loss to Argentina.
