Argentina vs. Brazil: Tardelli and Luiz Gustavo Star as Selecao Impress

Argentina and Brazil locked horns for the 100th time in footballing history on Saturday in China, and 52,313 turned out to watch Brazil win 2-0.

Los Albiceleste started far stronger but were pegged back by Diego Tardelli. Lionel Messi then missed a penalty, squandering the chance to draw level, and Tardelli netted again in the second half to seal it.

Starting XIs and Formations

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Argentina played a fluid 4-3-3—par for the course with Gerardo Martino—with Messi loosely off the right but dipping in centrally.

Brazil played a compact 4-2-3-1 with an interchanging midfield three, with Willian and Oscar in particular swapping around.

Fluid Argentina

Brazil started badly, but Argentina's fluency and movement made them look even worse.

Martino's loose front three of Erik Lamela, Messi and Sergio Aguero varied their attacking method, switching from short to long frequently, and attempted to open pockets of space wherever possible.

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Angel Di Maria soon emerged as los Albiceleste's greatest threat by surging forward from left central midfield, but credit Lamela for sticking wide, drawing Danilo to him and opening the gap for the Manchester United man to run into.

Lamela's performance on the ball was somewhat forgettable, but off the ball he performed an important role in freeing up the space for Di Maria to manipulate. Later, when Lamela was substituted, Javier Pastore failed to replicate the pattern and Brazil eased into control.

Better from Brazil

After 20 shell-shocked minutes, in which Brazil's only notable positive trait was David Luiz's confident nullification of Messi by man-marking him—a la Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 Barcelona—they finally found their feet.

There was a direct correlation between Tardelli's involvement and the Selecao's rise in performance, with the striker opting to begin dropping off to the left to help build play.

In Dunga's previous games, he's switched right and combined with Oscar well but this time decided to target Pablo Zabaleta alongside Neymar from the opposite flank.

His impact in holding the ball up allowed Brazil to come out of the defensive formation they had been stuck in for 22 minutes; the midfield pushed, the defence were relieved a little and a goal threat soon emerged.

Early balls into the four three/four and channel runs quickly became a theme, and Argentina had difficulty picking up their markers, as illustrated by Tardelli's first goal.

Defensive Dunga

After going two goals up, with Tardelli nodding home unmarked from a corner, Brazil moved into the defensive mindset we associate with Dunga so heavily.

Tardelli's position, rather than roaming all over from centre-forward, became essentially fixed as a support striker behind Neymar, who'd been pushed up front.

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Rather than press and harry consistently, Brazil sat off in a 4-4-1-1 (natural variance of the defensive 4-2-3-1) and let Neymar do very little other than threaten on the counter up front. Tardelli worked hard from a central position, and the Selecao adopted a very aggressive (but fair) stance in front of their box.

This is where Luiz Gustavo, one of the world's finest holding players, came to the fore as he shackled Argentina's playmakers and dealt firmly with Messi's jinking runs. The referee had a shocker, often punishing Brazil unfairly when a good tackle was made. The penalty call in the first half was very dubious, too.

Quickfire Conclusions

• Elias was very strong in midfield alongside the superlative Luiz Gustavo. He's an option.
• Lamela will be criticised as he didn't impress with the ball, but tactically speaking, Martino will be pleased with what he saw.
• Neymar takes international football very seriously, and he's clearly very proud to play for his country. It's great to see.
• Argentina's defence looked wobbly throughout. After Brazil began running head on at them, they hit the panic button.

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