Brazil coach Tite dedicated his side’s impressive 3-0 win over Argentina to Carlos Alberto.
The Samba Boys were playing for the first time since their 1970 World Cup winning captain died from a heart attack in October and they put on a show in his honour, blowing their great rivals away.
Goals from Philippe Coutinho, Neymar and Paulinho made it five wins on the bounce, making them near certainties for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
But thoughts were in the past rather than the future before the game.
“We dedicate this win to Carlos Alberto,” Tite told reporters. “The start was better than I expected. I finished my pregame speech with an image of Carlos Alberto’s goal to show team spirit.
“We knew how to overcome suffering and improve in the match when Argentina played better. The team is growing every day.
“Argentina were better at times, they caused some problems and on top of that Fernandinho was already booked.
“We had to reduce the amount of chances that Messi had to get the ball away from the area.”
In contrast to Brazil’s serene passage to Russia, Argentina have won just four of their first 11 games and currently sit outside of the automatic qualification spots.
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