Brazil 2-0 Argentina: Roberto Firmino and Gabriel Jesus send Selecao to Copa America final
Brazil reached their first Copa America final since 2007 with a 2-0 semi-final win over South American superpower rivals Argentina.
This classic international fixture lived up to the billing as goals from Gabriel Jesus (19) and Roberto Firmino (71) mean Argentina’s 26-year wait for some major silverware goes on.
It could also spell the end of Lionel Messi’s international career but things may had been different if Sergio Aguero and the Barcelona forward himself were not denied by the woodwork at key points in the encounter.
Messi stood by himself and looked in despair after the final whistle at the Mineiro Stadium.
Brazil will play Chile or Peru in Sunday’s final.
The early pace was electric with both teams crashing into tackles resulting in the first 10 minutes producing 10 fouls. Leandro Paredes slapped a 30-yard effort just wide of the post before Brazil cut open their opponents to take the lead.
Dani Alves skilfully manoeuvred his way down the right and found Firmino. His low cross allowed Jesus to tap home from close range.
The visitors nearly levelled on the half-hour mark when Messi’s free-kick was flicked onto the crossbar by Aguero and somehow the rebound could not be forced home by a blue and white shirt.
Brazil seemed happy to sit back and allow their defence to take centre stage. It was a dangerous ploy with Messi growing into the contest but his strike from 15 yards on 57 minutes came crashing back off the post.
With Argentina pushing on, Brazil caught them cold to score from just their fourth shot on goal.
Jesus drove down the left and repaid the favour to Firmino by finding his strike partner with a perfect ball across the face. The Liverpool man did not miss.
Argentina – and Messi – had no answers.
It’s quite remarkable the 36-year-old can still perform at such a high level. He looks as good as ever, full of his usual enthusiasm and drive down the right flank. Jesus and Firmino will receive most of the plaudits for their quality in the final third but it was Alves that provided the game-changing moment at 0-0. His turn of pace and skill opened up the Argentina defence down the right, which allowed Firmino and Jesus to combine.
Some of Europe’s biggest clubs will have been watching this performance with interest – remember, Alves is a free agent having left Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
