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Confederations Cup: Argentina favourites in final
It will be an "El Clasico" at the Confederations Cup final as two of the biggest powerhouses of World Football face-off each other on Wednesday night.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:52 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Frankfurt:
It will be an "El Clasico" at the Confederations Cup final as two of the biggest powerhouses of World Football face-off each other on Wednesday night. Brazil are the current world champions but Argentina are the favourites having beaten them the last time the two teams played. A win over continental rivals Argentina will make Brazil only the second nation after France to hold three senior FIFA titles at the same time - the World Cup, their continental crown and the Confederations Cup. While Argentina have travelled to Germany without Hernan Crespo, Brazil are also missing their own key striker, Ronaldo. Since the 1974 World Cup, the two Latin American teams have met each other 15 times in international competition. Psychological edge Brazil holds the edge with eight wins compared to five for Argentina while two matches have ended in a draw. Brazil also have the distinction of having won the World Cup five times, while Argentina has won the World Cup twice. The statistics may favour Brazil, but Argentina hold the psychological edge having beaten the Copa America Champions 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier earlier this month. What won't sit so well with them however is their performance in the semi-final. It was due to a Esteban Cambiasso spot-kick that Argentina managed to beat Mexico 6-5 on penalties and Jose Pekerman's team will need to give a more convincing performance if they are to lay claim to the Confederations Cup title. Key players The man to watch out for will be Luciano Figueroa, the leading scorer of the tournament with four goals. But Argentina will have to make do without the services of Javier Saviola, who picked was shown a red card in the semi-final. On the other hand, Brazil have concerns of their own with Adriano's fitness amongst them. Doctors have said his ankle injury will heal in time for the final, and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will certainly hope so considering he scored two of the three goals in Brazil's victory over Germany in the semi-finals.Topics mentioned in this article
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