Argentina and Brazil meet in Copa America final

The high altitude of Peru can cause dryness in the throat, among other discomforts, but it is truly a mouth-watering prospect that awaits in the final of the Copa America here today. Argentina versus Brazil is never an encounter to be sniffed at, not even in a competition that has lost some of its clout, ever more upstaged in recent years by the South American qualifying tournament for the World Cup.

Whatever the reservations of these two countries, who have left key players at home, they desperately want to capture the Copa now they are in the final, suffering one defeat apiece along the way. Indeed, each coach could be excused for wanting to place the event's critics in the way of the shuddering tackles that are certain to feature as much as Brazil's flowing football or Argentina's intense high-tempo game.

Club managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson, who is in Chicago preparing Manchester United for today's friendly against Bayern Munich, would do well to miss the Copa final. With one United player on each side, Ferguson could wince at what he sees should, for instance, Kléberson, the Brazil midfielder, be in a dispute for possession with Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina central defender. Neither player would pull out, that's for sure. With Heinze named last week in Argentina's Olympic squad, it may be a while in any case before Ferguson can play his new signing.

Like Uruguay, Brazil's victims in a penalty shoot-out in the second semi-final, Argentina have won the Copa 14 times. Brazil's six wins compare unfavourably with their five World Cup triumphs, but surely the Copa's most remarkable statistic concerns past Argentina v Brazil finals. All eight have been won by Argentina, who have certainly looked the most likely winners these past three weeks, notwithstanding the slip against Mexico in a group match.

With Andrés D'Alessandro a class act in midfield and Javier Zanetti rampaging down the right flank - even when he is ostensibly a member of the back three - they have overwhelmed most of their opponents. When one marksman, Javier Saviola, the scorer of a hat-trick against Ecuador, was injured, they promptly found another in Luciano Figueroa. And then yet another in Carlos Tevez, who has scored from free-kicks in each of their past two matches. He could be a Ferguson buy of the future.

Brazil, who have improved since leaving Arequipa, their 7,000ft-high base for the group matches, are less pleasing on the eye. Which is forgivable, seeing that they have, in Kléberson, only one member of their World Cup-winning squad. Ronaldo, among other illustrious names, is not here, but in Adriano they have found a scoring successor. With six goals, he is the tournament's leading marksman.

His Internazionale team-mate, Carlos Gamarra, of Paraguay, has been among the pick of the Copa's defenders, along with another player making a fortune in Serie A , Uruguay's Paolo Montero, whose return to international action has done so much to revive his team. Bolivia's goalkeeper, Leonardo Fernández, has also stood out.

When it comes to reviving memories, Argentina's coach, Marcelo Bielsa, has also played his part, with his Cantona-esque quote: 'Defending well presupposes tranquillity to go after the opponents' goal.' Maybe something got lost in the translation, but, making more sense, Bielsa said of his team's tactics today: 'We're going to attack with six players as usual, which is convincing proof of our own style.'

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