Olympic glory may have gone to Argentina but it is Brazil's star which is currently rising in the Latin American World Cup qualifiers. A weekend draw against Paraguay was Argentina's fourth winless match whereas Brazil are on the up after following up on a sticky start with a 3-0 win in Chile. Now the top sides play the bottom sides in midweek action which will determine which sides are on track to make it to the finals in South Africa in 2010.
Ahead of their home encounter with tail-enders Bolivia coach Dunga said Brazil were coming to the boil. "The win in Chile essentially shows we are on the right path," Dunga told reporters, adding that the calendar of regional qualifiers was difficult given the far-flung nature of much of the squad.
"We had players who had not been active for a month and of course that influences the team's performance," he said in part explanation for the team's relatively slow start. Brazil should have no trouble against Bolivia, who while often a threat on their own high-altittude patch do not travel well. The Brazilians traditionally have a patchy spell before finding some of the form which led to five world titles. A loss to Honduras in the Copa America in 2001 brought major opprobrium but under coach Liuz Felipe Scolari the samba stars still won the World Cup a year later.
The win in Chile, thanks to a brace from Luis Fabiano and another goal from Manchester City's new signing Robinho, has lifted some of the clouds away and more importantly lifted the pressure on Dunga. Referring to Bolivia, Dunga insisted that "in football every rival has to be respected. Teams considered favourites can fall victim to a surprise result. So we have to be humble."
Paraguay lead the group with 14 points from seven matches, and despite their recent poor run Argentina, away to Peru on Wednesday, are still in touch on 12 - though the Brazilians have now overtaken them on goal difference. After early pace-setters Paraguay host modest Venezuela on Tuesday in what looks like a home banker, Wednesday sees the off-colour Argentines head for Peru, fresh from a win over the Venezuelans.
Alfio Basile's Argentina will fancy their chances of putting an end to their bad run as their last defeat in Peru was came back in 1985 and their last four visits brought three wins and a draw.
Chile host a Colombia side which has fallen from grace since the days of Carlos Valderrama and lost to Uruguay, who now host Ecuador, at the weekend. The two-times world champion Uruguayans, who meet Ecuador, currently fill the fourth automatic qualifying spot by a single point from the Colombians and Chile with Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia bringing up the rear. Fifth place is still worth having in the group as that country would make it to the finals if they can beat a CONCACAF region side in a playoff.
But even the top sides have much to prove as, today, it is Europe which is in the ascendancy with Brazil and Argentina ranking just sixth and seventh in the current FIFA list behind Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland and Croatia.
-- Fixtures:
-- Tuesday: Paraguay v Venezuela
-- Wednesday: Peru v Argentina; Chile v Colombia; Uruguay v Ecuador; Brazil v Bolivia.