Superclasico is supercharged as Brazil and Argentina chase place in Copa America final
Brazil will be under pressure for their future and Argentina for their past when they meet in the Copa America semifinals at Mineirao Stadium in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
The hosts need the title to try to calm the waters for coach Tite until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Lionel Messi’s team seek their first trophy in 26 years, which would also be the first major one for the superstar in the white-andblue shirt.
In the other semi-final, defending champions Chile and underdogs Peru play in Porto Alegre on Thursday.
In a change from the quarter-finals, teams will play extra-time if the first 90 minutes are drawn.
Neither Tite nor Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni have given much suggestion into how their teams will play their superclasico in Belo Horizonte. Sunday’s training sessions were closed to the media.
The Brazilian coach doesn’t like to make changes, meaning his team could stick to the 4-1-3-1 formation they have used for most of the tournament, with Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino closing midfield gaps and helping Gabriel Jesus up front. Tite is under pressure for his conservative approach since he picked a squad filled with veterans.
Scaloni has made changes to his inexperienced team for every Copa America match, and is under pressure to be more conservative against Brazil and contain offensive trio of Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Sergio Aguero. The latter two could be replaced by winger Angel di Maria, who has performed well in roles that include defending, or midfielder Giovani Lo Celso.