Brazil’s Olympic Soccer Team Wins, 4-1 : Penalty Kicks Beat Argentina After Teams Tie in Regulation, 1-1

The last time Brazil’s Olympic soccer team played in the Los Angeles area, a North American-record crowd of 101,799 saw it beaten, 2-0 by France, in the 1984 gold-medal game at the Rose Bowl.

Only a third as many fans--31,689--were on hand at the Coliseum Tuesday night, but this time the result was a better one for the Brazilians, who defeated Argentina, 4-1 on penalty kicks, after the teams had played to a 1-1 tie in regulation.

Both sides are en route to the Olympic tournament in South Korea, where Brazil will be trying to turn its silver medal of four years ago into gold, while the Argentines will be one of the teams the United States must face in the first round.

Judging by Tuesday night’s performance, Brazil would seem to be a good bet to win a medal, although perhaps not the gold, whereas Argentina, not surprisingly, appears to be too strong for the the Americans.

With the exception of forward Jorge Comas, who scored the goal that tied the match in the 68th minute, the Argentine Olympic team is only a pale shadow of its world champion national team. There are no budding Diego Maradonas in sight in this lineup.

Still, as United States national and Olympic team forward Hugo Perez warned Tuesday night, too much must not be made of what essentially was an exhibition game. Perez and other members of the U.S. team and coaching staff attended Tuesday night’s match.

“Up to now, I don’t think they (the Argentines) have shown anything,” Perez said at halftime with Brazil leading, 1-0. “But this is just a friendly game for them, so it really doesn’t matter. You can’t judge a team until you play the first game for points.

“I think Brazil is making them look flat, too. They’re a good team; all Brazilian teams are good. But like I said, you can’t judge anything until the (Olympic) tournament starts.”

Does the United States have a shot at tying or, more unlikely yet, defeating Argentina when they meet in South Korea?

“Everybody has a shot before you start,” Perez said.

For much of the early going Tuesday, it seemed all the shots were coming from Brazil, whose forward line of Milton, Edmar and Romario, superbly supported by midfielders Ademir, Geovani and Careca, gave Argentina’s defense all sorts of trouble. The Brazilians may all go by one name, but they have a multiplicity of skills.

Brazil could, and probably should, have led by as many as three goals at the half, but all it had to show for its display was a lone goal by Romario in the 19th minute after a horrendous mix-up between Argentine goalkeeper Luis Islas and defender Mario Lucca. Lucca steered the ball wide of Islas, who had it covered, only to see Romario cut in and direct it into the empty net.

Moments earlier, Careca’s downward header from close range had rebounded off the base of the left post with Islas beaten.

The speed of the Brazilians, not to mention the dazzling footwork of players such as Careca and Milton, signaled a possible rout, but the Argentine defense, with Islas in particular playing well, held firm.

Referee Arturo Angeles kept firm control of the match, which was marred by a series of fouls by both sides. Arturo issued six “yellow card” warnings, four against Argentina and two against Brazil. With nine minutes left to play, he ejected Argentine midfielder Dario Siviski.

In the penalty kick decider, the Argentines failed to score on their first two efforts; Comas, surprisingly, shooting wide of the net, and Brazilian goalie Taffarel saving Nestor Lorenzo’s weak shot, and it was all over.

In Tuesday night’s second game, Club America, the Mexican league and cup champion, defeated the El Salvador national team, 3-0, on goals by Carlos Feixas, Antonio Santos and Gonzalo Farfan.

The Camel Nations Cup tournament ends Friday night at the Coliseum, with Brazil meeting Club America in the championship match at 9 p.m. Argentina and El Salvador face each other in the third-place game at 7:15 p.m.