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The origin of the football rivalry between Argentina and Brazil can be set long before the sport had became so popular in both countries. During the Colonization Of The Americas , Spain and Portugal often fought each other to gain control over vast portions of land, specially around the strategic Río De La Plata . As far as the years of the independence of both countries, when a Year Long War ended with the Treaty Of Montevideo that gave Uruguay its independence. Today few remember wars and other political confrontations between both countries, and only recall matches, victories, goals and other sport-related incidents. Their Rivalry is found in almost all sports, but a Football match between Argentina and Brazil is one that neither side wants to lose, and often acquires more importance than the championship within which it takes place. To exemplify the intensity of this rivalry, is enough to remember that after the 1946 incidents ( See Below ), the two teams did not play against each other for ten years; either team would decline to play a given cup so that they would never had to play against the neighbouring country. GAMES STATISTICS Since the first match in 1914, both national football teams have played a few less than 100 matches counting friendly, World Cup , and other championships, not counting young teams' matches. Statistics show a balance with small fluctuations in the number of victories for each side. Even though Brazil has won 5 World Cups (two of them in the last three tournaments), Argentina has won 14 Copa América titles against Brazil's 7, and has a gold medal from the 2004 Olympic Games , which Brazil has never conquered. Even though there are minimum differences between the matches counted by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the near-balance is not in dispute. Of the 87 matches played between both national teams, 21 were draws, and each has 33 victories, and 142 goals for Argentina against 134 for Brazil. Only counting World Cup matches Brazil is ahead with 2 wins, 1 tie and 1 loss, whereas in the Copa América, Argentina has 15 victories, 7 draws and 8 defeats. Of 12 friendly matches, 5 were for Brazil, 3 for Argentina and 4 were draws. Even though Argentina has led the statistics since the first match between the two countries in 1914, the 1970s proved to be dark times for Argentina, with 6 defeats, 4 ties and no victory. Biggest wins are, for Argentina 6–1 (at home in Buenos Aires , 1940) and 1–5 (away at Rio De Janeiro , 1939), for Brazil 6–2 (at home in Rio de Janiero, 1945 and 1960) and 1–4 (away at Buenos Aires, 1960). For a complete list of matches, and statistical reviews, see the RSSSF listing here . MARADONA AND PELé RIVALRY Even though there's a number of players that people postulate as the ''best player of all time'', Maradona and Pelé are probably the most famous, and hold most of the votes among an elite group that includes Cruijff , Beckenbauer , Platini and Di Stéfano . The discussion about which of the two is the number one player of all time proved to be never ending. Even though most consider them as the best player of ''their'' time, many consider the comparison between them useless, as they played in different Positions , during incomparable eras, and in different leagues. Probably this argument got its international climax during the ''FIFA century awards'' in 2000, in which Maradona was voted ''Player of the Century'' in an official internet Poll , garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé. In spite of this, and short before the ceremony, the FIFA decided to add a second award, that a FIFA appointed "Football Family" committee gave to Pelé, also as the best player of the century. This move was specially criticized in Argentina, not only because it lessened the importance of Maradona's award, but also because it was seen as a reward for Pelé's constant support to FIFA, in contrast to Maradona's frequent criticism. Maradona left the ceremony right after receiving his award, and before Pelé was given his. In another internet poll that took place in 2002, Maradona received another award from FIFA, as one of his goals was selected as the World Cup Goal Of The Century . One of Pelé's goals conquered the third place, while Maradona had a second goal selected as fourth. In 2004, Pelé was given the FIFA Order Of Merit for his contributions to football. It should be noted that internet polls are highly succeptible to coverage bias, so the result might have been influenciated by a bigger number of Argentine users aware of the poll, or the more common access to Internet by younger users who might not have seen Pelé in action. In spite of their frequent confrontations, usually through quotations by the media, Pelé was the guest star of Maradona's TV show ''La Noche del 10'' ("The Night of the #10"), where they had a friendly chat. INCIDENTS 1920 incident The friendly match played on October 12 1920 in Buenos Aires started with 8 players on each side, as some of the Brazilian players refused to play because an Argentine newspaper insulted them calling them ''macaquitos'' (little monkeys; Black Lemur ), in clear reference to the Mulato skin of many of the players. Only 8 Brazilian players wanted to play, so the Argentine side decided to send only 8 to the field. Argentina won the match 3-1. The origin of the ''Macaco'' or ''Macaquito'' expression for the Brazilian is unclear; some affirm it comes from the times of the War Of The Triple Alliance fought in the 1860s, when Argentine soldiers would use such expressions to refer to their Brazilian allies. 1937 incident In the South American Championship 1937 (current Copa América), the rivalry between both teams was already something of national pride. There were verbal confrontations between both parties, and Argentine fans often taunted the Brazilians by calling them ''macaquitos'' and making monkey sounds. The final match, held in Buenos Aires , was played between the two sides and was goalless after ninety minutes. In additional time, Argentina scored two goals, and the Brazilians decided to leave the field early. The Brazilian press called it "the game of shame". 1939 incident In 1939 there were two matches between Argentina and Brazil, both of them in Rio De Janeiro and for the Roca Cup. The first one, held in January, ended 5–1 to Argentina. A second match was held only one week later, with the Brazilian team seeking revenge for the gross previous defeat. The match was vibrating; first Brazil went ahead 1–0, then Argentina recovered to get 1–2, and Brazil then tied it at 2–2. Shortly before the end of the match the referee, the same as in the previous match, gave a doubtful penalty to Brazil. Furious, Argentina player Arcadio López verbally attacked the referee and had to be escorted out of the field by the police. The Argentine team, enraged by the actions of the referee and the police, left the field. The penalty that gave Brazil the 3–2 victory was scored without a goalkeeper, since the entire Argentine team had already walked off the pitch. 1945 and 1946 incidents In the 1945 match that Brazil won by 6 goals to 2, young Brazilian Ademir Menezes fractured Argentine Batagliero's leg. Though it seemed to be only an unfortunate accident, the game was played roughly and sometimes violently. A few months later, the South American Championship 1946 final again involved Argentina and Brazil. There was a large media coverage, and the conviction that it would be a rough match. Twenty-eight minutes after the beginning, when both teams went for a free ball, Brazilian Jair Rosa Pinto fractured Argentine captain José Salomon's Tibia and Fibula . General disorder ensued, with Argentine and Brazilian players fighting on the pitch with the police. The public invaded the field and both teams had to go to the dressing rooms. After order was restored the game continued, and Argentina won the match 2–0. Salomon never recovered completely nor played professional football after the incident. incident This game was played in Group 3 of the second round of the held in Spain . The game was easily won by Brazil 3 - 1 with goals from Zico , Serginho and Júnior . Ramón Díaz scored the goal for the Argentine team, in the last minute of regulation time. But the highlight of that game was the red card that Maradona got for a vicious kick against Brazilian midfielder Batista. That was the only time the Argentine star was sent off in a World Cup. incident The round of 16 in the held in Italy featured one highly anticipated clash between the two South American superpowers. Brazil dominated that game and it seemed that the Argentines were going to be lucky to hold the Brazilians to a draw after three shots bounced onto their posts and crossbar. But with very little time left, Maradona played a sensational pass to Caniggia , who faced goalkeeper Taffarel and put the ball into the net. Argentina won that game and took that momentum all the way into the final match, where they lost to 1-0. Curiously, this game is also remembered by a strange incident featuring Branco and an Argentine assistant (Miguel di Lorenzo, a.k.a. ''"Galindez"''). The Brazilian player was given a water bottle by the Argentine that allegedly contained a drug that would make a person feel dizzy or nauseated. In 2005, Maradona seemed to confirm this suspicion, which generated a lot of criticism and calls for sanctions against Argentine coach Bilardo and his assistant. To this day, Galindez denies the bottle had anything other than water. 1996 media incident During the 1996 Summer Olympics , Argentina's rival for the final match of the Gold Medal was to be decided between Brazil and Nigeria. The sports newspaper Diario Olé printed the controversial headline "Let the macacos come" (''Que vengan los macacos''), in clear reference to the already forgotten term used decades before. Critics to such headline arose both in Argentina and Brazil. Nigeria obtained the golden medal, while Argentine got the silver and Brazil the bronze. 2005 incident At club level, the rivalry between Argentina and Brazil has also produced incidents. In a match of the Copa Libertadores 2005 , and after a rough tackle on the Brazilian club São Paulo 's player Grafite, Argentine Quilmes player Leandro Desábato reacted with a racist insult towards Grafite. In what was called by the Argentine media "an extremely exaggerated reaction", Desábato was arrested after the match, handcuffed, taken to the local police station, and kept there for 40 hours. The entire Quilmes team waited for Desábato in Brazil while he was held in custody. With Desábato sent back to Argentina, and after a few days of tension and media coverage of the event, Grafite finally dropped the charges. CLUB LEVEL At club level, Argentine clubs show an important advantage over the Brazilians. Of the most important competitions, Argentina won 20 Copas Libertadores against 12 Brazilians, and 9 Intercontinental Cups against 6 Brazilians. The second most important CONMEBOL championship, equivalent to the Europe an UEFA Cup , is the Copa Sudamericana (previously played as Copa Mercosur and then Copa CONMEBOL ) with a slight advantage for Brazil. Other secondary cups include the Recopa Sudamericana , and the defunct Supercopa Sudamericana and Copa Interamericana . Regarding international titles, Argentine most important club are Club Atlético Independiente , Boca Juniors , Estudiantes De La Plata , and River Plate . Brazilians include São Paulo , Santos F.C. , Grêmio , and Flamengo . WOMEN'S FOOTBALL The Brazil Women's National Football Team is a successful Women's Football team, though not as successful as the men's counterpart. It achieved a third place in the FIFA Women's World Cup of 1999 , and a Silver Medeal at the Olympic Games in 2004 . In comparison, Argentina does not have a professional women's football league; the members of the women's national team are all amateur players. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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