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Watch Brazil's three goals against Argentina

It was a long road back to redemption as Brazil outplayed and outscored rivals Argentina 3-0 in Belo Horizonte, the city they were humiliated 7-1 in 2014 by Germany.

Two goals from Philippe Coutinho and Neymar in the first half and third from Paulinho, in his return to international football sealed victory for Brazil and cemented their top spot in the South American World Cup qualifiers.

Neymar put up yet another sumptuous performance in the national team shirt by scoring his 50 international goal, while his Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi struggled through the game.

The Argentine team lacked creativity and were very sluggish in attack, hence made the job easy for Brazil.

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Brazil goalkeeper, Alisson Becker was called to duty, as he saved Lucas Biglia’s long range shot in the early minutes of the game. Brazil’s strategy of containing Lionel Messi in the first half yielded results- They brought him Messi down on two occasion after breaking and unfortunately he wasted the resultant freekicks.

Higuaín, who was selected ahead of Aguero was mostly caught in the offside position and Angel Di Maria couldn’t exert his influence on the game in the first.

The much talking point in the first 45 minutes was Philippe Coutinho’s world class finish after he was fed by Neymar in the 25th minute- The Liverpool playmaker found space for himself and finished it with much precision.

Neymar doubled the scoreline on the stroke of halt time break against the run of play to make a comeback more difficult for the Argentine’s. Neymar’s goal was his 50 goal in the national team jersey.

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Coach Edgardo Bauza acted quickly after the half-time break by replacing Enzo Perez with Sergio Aguero to throw caution to the wind- resorted to three attacking attackers.

Brazil game plan at beginning of the second half was clear, they were satisfied with the 2-0 lead and sat at the back inviting Argentina on.

They warmed themselves slowly into the game and started dictating the pace of the game and in the process got the third goal

Zabaleta cleared Paulinho ball from  the goal line to deny Brazil a goal number three.

But it didn't take long, for the man recalled from the wilderness, Paulinho plying his trade in the Chinese Super League made it 3-0 in the 59th minute- His ball deflected off a defender and made Romero flat-footed.

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Neymar in the 68 minute came close to scoring his personal two in the 67 minute, after he was put through, only to be blocked by Zabaletta.

The Argentina talisman, Lionel Messi played below his best, as his freekick were poor and also failed to exert his authority on the game. Another game changer who couldn’t come to the party was Angel Di Maria.

Substitute Roberto Firminho almost registered his name on the scoresheet in the 84 minute, after a delightful build-up, but missed the final touch.

The best move for Lionel Messi came in the closing stage of the game when he beat two defenders in a solo move yet Thiago Silva, who came on as a late substitute blocked the ball from entering the net.

Defeat to Argenina has further worsened their chances of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, since a win for Paraguay would push them down from 6 position to 7 on the log sheet- First four will earn automatic place in Russia, while the 5 placed-nation will be involved min a play-off.

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