"The comparison between Messi playing for Barcelona and Messi playing for Argentina is clear because of that".
Although Brazil can be content to know it played virtually even with Argentina without Neymar, the squad now has injury concerns after Gabriel Jesus was elbowed by Otamendi and carried off the field.
The Brazilians were much risky when having the ball in their possession, but eventually, the Argentine managed to impose a slow tempo with often passing the ball to the keeper and in that way the preventing their opponent from creating any chances.
The 57-year-old, who is fulfilling a long-time dream of coaching his national team, said he had signed a deal with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Sampaoli has taken over a team struggling badly in the race to Russian Federation - fifth in the standings and facing the prospect of a playoff unless they turn their campaign around. "That's the type of synergy we want to create in the Argentina team".
Argentina's players celebrate their first goal of Gabriel Mercado during their friendly worldwide football match between Brazil and Argentina at the MCG in Melbourne on June 9, 2017.
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With new coach Jorge Sampaoli making his debut for the two-time World Cup winners, Argentina did well in the first half but were fortunate not to concede in the second.
They had several chances, but they just didn't have the concentration to execute.
Argentina boast some of the best attacking talent in world football, and Lanzini is eager to line-up alongside Barcelona's Lionel Messi in particular.
It is not the first time Argentina and Brazil have faced off in Australia. Speculation based on early training sessions hint that Argentina's captain and record goalscorer will be deployed just off the front in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Gonzalo Higuain as the main striker and his Juventus team-mate Paulo Dybala in the other supporting role.
You probably wonder why we are so harsh on our report from this game.
Philippe Coutinho was also denied by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero and Nicolas Otamendi after Willian found him unmarked in the area as Brazil continued to press. They still need a lot of work defensively and at times they left too many spaces. "It's easier to analyse a game when we win", Brazilian manager Tite said. The problem was that with fewer players in midfield, it was harder to stop the Brazilian moves at source. "In the second half, we had more possession and played better".
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