Copa America 2021 Final: The Road to the Maracana

With the attention surrounding the Final of the European Championships between Italy and England on Sunday, it is easy to forget that there's another final taking place in the early hours of Sunday. The Copa America is at its climax with the Final taking place on Saturday night in Rio De Janeiro. The hosts and defending champions Brazil will face arch-rivals Argentina to see who will become the kings of South America. For many who are not from the Americas, the tournament has not gained much coverage due to the Euros and there was a lot of speculation if the competition can go ahead with Brazil coming in at the last minute to host the tournament with Colombia and Argentina, who were supposed to co-host the competition, pulled out due to political tensions and rise of coronavirus cases. The tournament has been played behind closed doors, making it a quiet tournament. The tournament is at its end so let's at each team's route to the Final.

BRAZIL

Despite being hosts, the Brazil team almost boycotted the tournament due to their concerns with the tournament. However, they eventually went to play in the tournament, facing Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. The Selecao kicked things off with a 3-0 victory against Venezuela before blowing Peru away with a 4-0 win. They beat Colombia, possibly their toughest opponents in the group stage, 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals before finishing the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Ecuador. In the quarterfinals, they faced two-time Copa America winners Chile. They got through the tie 1-0 but were down to ten men as striker Gabriel Jesus was sent off, ruling him out for the semifinal against Peru and the final. In the semifinal against Peru, Lucas Paqueta rose to the occasion, scoring the winner to take Brazil to a second straight Copa America Final. Brazil throughout the tournament has not had a reliable scorer with Roberto Firmino, Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Barbosa all rotated. With Gabriel Jesus out for the Final, Richarlison will likely start up-front. Neymar is the man leading Brazil's attack and after missing the last tournament which Brazil won, Neymar will want to make the Final his own. Defensively, Brazil has impressed conceding only two goals all tournament with the defence having the likes of Lodi, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Danilo. For the midfield, it will likely be Fred and Casemiro, who the latter having a familiar responsibility in the Final. Keeping out Lionel Messi. Brazil as hosts and defending champions will be favourites despite no fans in the stands for the Final but they must not let Argentina take the game to them.

ARGENTINA

After reaching three straight semifinals in the last three Copa Americas, reaching the final in two of them, Argentina was unable to get over the line. Losing both finals on penalties to Chile. With coach Lionel Scaloni at the helm, La Albeceleste comes into this tournament hoping to win their first major trophy since 1993. They started off their tournament with a 1-1 draw against Chile before beating neighbouring rivals Uruguay 1-0 thanks to a goal from Guido Rodriguez. They beat Paraguay 1-0 before finishing off the group stage with a 4-1 win over Bolivia, which saw them go through to the quarterfinals top of the group. In the quarterfinals, they went through past Ecuador 3-0 with Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul getting on the scoresheet. In the semifinals, they faced Colombia who held them to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, taking the game to penalties. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved two penalties for Argentina to take them to the final. Argentina's main man is still Lionel Messi, who at 34, is still influencing games for Argentina. He has had a successful tournament personally with 4 goals and 5 assists, contributing nine of Argentina's 11 goals. Outside of Messi, the team looks more balanced it has been in years with a reliable shot-stopper in Emi Martinez, a defence that includes Cristian Romero and German Pezzella, options in midfield like Giovanni Le Celso, Leandro Parades and Rodrigo De Paul, and attackers like Nicolas Gonzalez, Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Martinez. For Argentina, they need to get over the line to win the Copa America in Brazil and be confident in their chances against Brazil as both sides are quite similar. Winning the Copa in the Maracana will be great icing on the cake.