Vinícius Júnior and Phillipe Coutinho are the options instead of the 10 shirt
It’s a South American classic day. Argentina and Brazil face off, at 20:30 (GMT), at the San Juan Bicentennial Stadium, in San Juan, for the 14th round of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Finalists of the last Copa América, in July, the rivals meet for the first time since the derby in São Paulo, which ended up suspended after the intervention of agents from Anvisa and the Federal Police.
The two teams arrive at a good moment. The team led by Tite is the undefeated leader of the Qualifiers and is already classified for the World Cup in Qatar. Argentina, on the other hand, is coming off a streak of 26 matches without defeat – the last one was for Brazil, in the semifinals of the Copa América in 2019.
To also stamp their passport to Qatar, the Argentines have to beat Brazil today and hope for a combination of results. Albiceleste hopes that Chile, Colombia and Uruguay will not win. A place at the Worlds can also come with a draw, but then two of these teams cannot win and neither can Peru.
Without Neymar, there are two main candidates to win the title: Vini Júnior and Philippe Coutinho. If coach Tite chooses the Real Madrid striker, Lucas Paquetá will have to change his position and play more centrally. Coutinho, on the other hand, would be the substitute that would change the least in the team’s tactical formation, but the player is not going through a good moment.
In addition to that, Tite must make three other changes. Éder Militão trained instead of Thiago Silva, and Matheus Cunha, with Gabriel Jesus. Casemiro, suspended, will give way to Fabinho.
On the Argentine side, the main doubt is the presence of defensive midfielder Leandro Paredes, who did not face Uruguay, last Friday. The Paris Saint-Germain player is recovering from a thigh injury and has trained with ball in recent days. If he cannot play, Guido Rodríguez must start. Messi is confirmed.
The 19 thousand tickets offered for sale were sold out. The Argentine team will have the support of the fans to help put the country in another World Cup.
