Final game preview and comments:
Dream finale
Rivals Brazil, Argentina face off in Copa America title game
LIMA (Reuters) -- World champion Brazil meets archrival Argentina on Sunday in a perfect finale to a Copa America that has already surpassed expectations.
The clash in Lima's national stadium comes less than two months after Brazil's 3-1 win in their World Cup qualifier in Belo Horizonte, when Ronaldo won and converted a hat-trick of penalties.
The Real Madrid striker will not be present this time. Along with Kaka, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, he is one of several top players to be rested for the tournament by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Yet the five-time World Cup winner has still managed to reach the final in an awesome demonstration of their strength-in-depth.
"We've shown the magnitude of Brazilian football," Parreira said.
Meanwhile, Argentina has almost certainly kept coach Marcelo Bielsa in a job by getting this far.
The introverted coach, who last week admitted he had trouble understanding himself, had not been expected to survive a poor tournament after a spell of lackluster performances and unremarkable results.
IMPRESSIVE SCORING
Instead, Argentina has scored 14 goals and conceded four on its way to the final. Twenty-year-olds Javier Macherano and Carlos Tevez have both looked outstanding and Bielsa appears to have secured his position.
Brazil has also been unveiling alternatives to the old guard, in particular striker Adriano who is the Copa's top-scorer with six goals in five games including a hat-trick against Costa Rica.
The two giants of South American football have not met in the final since the Copa America was re-invented in the late 1980s and it appears organizers did not intend them to clash this time either.
Along with host Peru, the pair were top seeds for the three first round groups and would have met in the semifinals if everything had gone to plan and they had won their groups.
Peru, meanwhile, would not have run into either of them before the final.
However, all three teams finished as runners-up in their groups, meaning that Argentina faced Peru in the quarterfinals while Brazil fell into the other half of the draw.
Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa has refused to accept that his team is the favorite despite Brazil's absentees.
"The question of favorites is a game which overloads the responsibilities or a team and lightens the load of the other," he said.
"The obligations which we feel arise from the sentiment of wanting to win."
Parreira said: "Argentina are a team who do everything well. They mark well, they run a lot and they play well when they've got the ball.
"They're a team who can play and stop the opposition from playing."
But he added: "There's no reason for us to be afraid of them."
Brazil: 1-Dida, 13-Maicon, 3-Luisao, 4-Juan, 6-Gustavo Nery; 5-Renato, 8-Kleberson, 10-Alex, 11-Edu; 9-Luis Fabiano, 7-Adriano
Argentina: 1-Roberto Abbondanzieri; 8-Javier Zanetti, 2-Roberto Ayala, 6-Gabriel Heinze, 3-Juan Pablo Sorin; 5-Javier Maschero, 16-Luis Gonzalez, 11-Carlos Tevez; 19-Cesar Delgado, 9-Luciano Figueroa, 18-Cristian Gonzalez
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)
==========================
Argentina needs win more than Brazil backups
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Argentina can't afford to lose to Brazil in the Copa America final on Sunday.
Any loss to the old enemy is a torment to Argentines, but to fall to what is effectively Brazil's B team would be even worse at National Stadium.
Argentina's exciting form in making its first final anywhere in 11 years has finally drawn credibility and affection from its demanding fans, and began to heal the wounds from the 2002 World Cup disaster, when the pre-Cup favorite was kicked out in the first round.
Coach Marcelo Bielsa also badly needs the victory. Beloved by his players but belittled by his countrymen, Bielsa's devotion to attacking soccer would be validated, and help keep the job he's held since 1999.
"Anything less than the best would be considered a tremendous disappointment," Bielsa said.
The teams previously met only last month in World Cup qualifying, and Argentina lost 3-1 on three penalty kicks which still twist their stomachs. Argentina has seven back from that side, and welcomes the return of Valencia defender and captain Roberto Ayala who was suspended for that game.
But Brazil has only two who started in Belo Horizonte: Bayer Leverkusen defender Juan and Arsenal midfielder Edu.
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira rested his major stars and brought his second-best outfit and it's been a wonderful experiment on the pitch, even if most of their games have failed to sell out.
"Argentina and Brazil came in different stages to this Copa America, but both enter the final equally prepared," Edu said. "They have the advantage of having a more experienced team, but we have shown on the field that we can play with quality against anybody."
Brazil has a ready-made excuse should it fail, which is a historic certainty in the Copa America. Brazil has never beaten Argentina in the Copa finals, finishing second in eight of Argentina's co-record 14 championships.
"Our success in this competition won't be measured by the final result," Parreira said. "We really want the title, but we already gained a lot just by being able to closely observe this group of talented players."
Even so, it's Argentina versus Brazil, and nothing is surrendered easily in one of sport's greatest rivalries.
Historically, Argentina has 36 wins and Brazil 33 in 90 games since 1908. Argentina's Copa record is even better with 15 wins to eight.
Argentina has also had the better results this month. The Albiceleste finished second in Group B, the tournament's toughest, after trouncing Ecuador 6-1, losing to Mexico 1-0, and beating Uruguay 4-2. They downed host Peru 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and cruised past defending champion Colombia 3-0 in the semis.
Brazil has struggled to gel. It also finished second in Group C after wins against Chile and Costa Rica and a 2-1 loss to group winner Paraguay. The best performance was a 4-0 thrashing of Mexico in the quarterfinals. It beat Uruguay only in a penalty shootout after drawing their semifinal 1-1.
Bielsa was expected to retain striker Carlos Tevez, the reigning Latin American player of the year who has scored Argentina's last two game-winners as a substitute and late starting replacement.
But a cloud remained over the status of Andres D'Alessandro and Javier Saviola, who have watched the last two games from the bench with muscle injuries.
The good news for Bielsa was Villareal's Fabricio Coloccini will join Ayala -- who missed the semifinal on suspension -- and Gabriel Heinze in the back line.
"Our emphasis will be on offense, looking to press Brazil in its own half of the field," Bielsa said. "We know we won't have a chance to win if we don't keep up the pressure."
Brazil has all of its players available, and Parreira will be able to field his ideal starting lineup for the third consecutive match.
A third title in four Copas would ease Brazil during the Athens Olympics, for which it failed to qualify.
Argentina, which hasn't won the Copa since 1993 and skipped the 2001 event in Colombia for safety reasons, could earn a record 15th title on Sunday.
"They had good results until now, but it doesn't mean anything now," said Brazil and Manchester United midfielder Kleberson. "Things are different in a final, it's when everybody gives their best."
======================
At a glance
Who: Argentina vs. Brazil
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. local (2000 GMT)
Where: National Stadium (45,000 capacity)
Championships: Argentina 14 (1921, '25, '27, '29, '37, '41, '45, '46, '47, '55, '57, '59, '91, '93). Brazil 6 (1919, '22, '49, '89, '97, '99).
Runner-up: Argentina, 10 times; Brazil, 11 times.
Previous finals: 1921, Argentina, 1-0, round-robin; 1925, Argentina, 4-1, 2-2, round-robin; 1937, Argentina, 2-0 ET; 1945, Argentina, 3-1, round-robin; 1946, Argentina, 2-0, round-robin; 1957, Argentina, 3-0, round-robin; 1959, Argentina, 1-1, round-robin; 1991, Argentina, 3-2, round-robin.
Copa America head-to-head: Argentina 15 wins, Brazil 8 wins, 7 draws.
Copa America penalty shootouts: 1-1.
All-time head-to-head: Argentina 36 wins, Brazil 33 wins, 21 draws.
2004 leading scorers: Adriano, Brazil, 6 goals; Javier Saviola, Argentina, 3.
Quote: "There's no love lost between these two teams." -- Brazil midfielder Edu.
:star: