2007 Copa América final

2007 Copa América final

The Estadio José Pachencho Romero in Maracaibo held the final
Event	2007 Copa América
Brazil Argentina 3 0
Date	15 July 2007
Venue	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo
Referee	Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)
Attendance	40,000
Weather	Mostly cloudy 32 °C (90 °F)

The 2007 Copa América final was the final match of the 2007 Copa América. It was held on 15 July 2007 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, between Brazil and Argentina. Brazil won 3–0, with goals from Júlio Baptista, a Roberto Ayala own goal and Dani Alves. Brazil won their eighth title, while Argentina could have won their fifteenth.

Background

Main article: Argentina–Brazil football rivalry

It was the second consecutive final between Brazil and Argentina; Brazil had won the 2004 Final in a penalty shootout against Argentina. The match ended 2–2 after extra time: Kily González opened the scoring with a penalty, and Luisão headed an equaliser at the start of the second half. César Delgado put Argentina back into the lead with three minutes of normal time remaining, but Adriano equalised in added time. In the shootout, Brazil's Júlio César saved the first Argentine penalty by Andrés D'Alessandro while Gabriel Heinze missed, and defender Juan scored the winner.

Route to the final

Brazil		Round	Argentina
Opponent	Result	Group stage	Opponent	Result
Mexico	0–2	Match 1	United States	4–1
Chile	3–0	Match 2	Colombia	4–2
Ecuador	1–0	Match 3	Paraguay	1–0
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Mexico 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Brazil 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 Chile 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4 Ecuador 3 0 0 3 3 6 −3 0		Final standings	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Argentina 3 3 0 0 9 3 +6 9 Paraguay 3 2 0 1 8 2 +6 6 Colombia 3 1 0 2 3 9 −6 3 United States 3 0 0 3 2 8 −6 0
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Chile	6–1	Quarter-finals	Peru	4–0
Uruguay	2–2 (5–4 pen.)	Semi-finals	Mexico	3–0

Match

Officials

Paraguayan Carlos Amarilla was chosen to be the referee, having also refereed the 2004 Final. In the 2007 tournament he refereed two more matches, Uruguay against Peru, and Chile against Mexico, both of the first round.

Team selection

Of Argentina's team which took part in the 2004 Final, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Javier Zanetti, Gabriel Heinze, Roberto Ayala, Javier Mascherano, and Carlos Tevez started in the 2007 edition, with Lucho González a starter in 2004 and substitute in 2007. For Brazil, Juan and Maicon started both, with Diego a substitute in both.

Synopsis

Brazil took the lead in the fourth minute through Júlio Baptista, set up by Elano. Thirty minutes later, however, Elano went off injured to be replaced by Dani Alves. Alves sent in a cross in the 40th minute, which Ayala deflected for an own goal past Abbondanzieri to double Brazil's lead at half time.

In the 59th minute, Argentina substituted defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso for attacking alternative Pablo Aimar. Ten minutes later, Brazil scored their third and final goal: Vágner Love began a counterattack, running up the pitch and setting up Alves to score.

Details

15 July 2007

17:05

Brazil	3–0	Argentina
Júlio Baptista 4' Ayala 40' (o.g.) Dani Alves 69'	Report

Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)

Brazil

Argentina

GK 12 Doni  51' RB 2 Maicon CB 3 Alex  37' CB 4 Juan (c) LB 6 Gilberto  54' DM 5 Mineiro DM 17 Josué  82' AM 7 Elano  34' AM 19 Júlio Baptista  68' SS 11 Robinho  90' CF 9 Vágner Love  90' Substitutions: DF 13 Dani Alves  34' MF 18 Fernando  90' MF 10 Diego  90' Manager: Dunga

GK 1 Roberto Abbondanzieri RB 8 Javier Zanetti CB 2 Roberto Ayala (c) CB 15 Gabriel Milito LB 6 Gabriel Heinze DM 19 Esteban Cambiasso  59' DM 14 Javier Mascherano  44' CM 20 Juan Sebastián Verón  67' AM 18 Lionel Messi AM 10 Juan Román Riquelme CF 11 Carlos Tevez  75' Substitutions: MF 16 Pablo Aimar  59' MF 13 Lucho González  67' Manager: Alfio Basile

External links

• Copa América 2007; rsssf.com
• Copa America 2007 Final; football-lineups.com