Argentina and Brazil met on date 15 of the Qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Pékerman’s team had the possibility of qualifying for the top soccer event if they beat their eternal rival and they did not disappoint: it was a 3-1 win with two goals from Hernán Crespo and one from Juan Román Riquelme, the figure of the night, in a match that meant Argentina’s last official victory over Brazil.
After what had been the disappointing Albiceleste performance in the 2002 World Cup, Argentina began to prepare for the next World Cup match, stipulated for 2006 and which would be hosted by Germany. Even with Marcelo Bielsa leading the team, Argentina debuted in the Qualifiers against Chile at El Monumental with a 2-2 scoreline. The triumph of Bielsa’s team against Peru on September 5, 2004 would mark the end of Loco’s era in command of the national team, since 9 days later the DT resigned from his position.
The decision took several by surprise because Bielsa had just become Olympic champion in Athens and Albiceleste was on track for the Qualifiers. The next commitment of the National Team was against Uruguay as a local and Argentina presented two important novelties: José Pékerman was on the substitute bench and on the field, with number 8, Juan Román Riquelme made his debut in those Qualifiers. The match ended with a 4-2 victory for Albiceleste and José’s team finished the first round second behind Brazil.
The second round of the Qualifiers began on October 12, 2004 and, one day later, Argentina visited Chile in a match that ended 0-0. On date 11, held on November 17, Pékerman’s men beat Venezuela 3-2, took advantage of Brazil’s loss to Ecuador and climbed to the top of the standings, a position they held until the last working day. The key match of those Qualifiers was played on June 8, 2005. Argentina received the last world champion, Brazil, in a match in which the Albiceleste could seal their passage to the 2006 World Cup in Germany in case of obtaining a victory.
La Cararinha presented a dream formation and brought Dida, Cafú, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Kaká, Robinho and Adriano onto the field, one of the Brazilian National Teams that has played the best football in recent years. José, for his part, did not hold back either and had his best men to go in search of victory. The game was favorable from the beginning for Argentina, which dominated Brazil during the first stage and after 3 minutes they took the lead with a goal by Hernán Crespo, who received the clearance from Lucho González and shot Dida with a right hand. flush with the floor that went next to the goalkeeper’s left post.
15 minutes after having achieved the first difference, Riquelme took one of the rabbits out of his top hat and scored 2-0: the play began with a heel from Román in midfield, then the midfielder received a pass from González, took off Roque Junior’s mark was swept away with a touch from the right and, with his less skilled leg, he finished off from outside the area to embed the ball in the right corner of Dida, who could not do anything to avoid the second conquest and only dedicated himself to observe how Riquelme’s remote control inflated the net of his bow. The party was completed when Crespo, at 40, anticipated Roque Junior and flew in a popcorn that deflected Saviola’s cross to make it 3-0. It was not a dream, Argentina had been vastly superior to Brazil and that was reflected in the scoreboard: 3 goals in 40 minutes.
In the second 45 minutes, with the score 3-0, Riquelme controlled the team’s times and took charge of making the ball run to maintain the result, which was modified after 70 minutes. Roberto Carlos, faithful to his style, converted a great goal from a free kick and sent a missile with his left leg to the goal of Abbondanzieri to mark the discount.
Finally, Gustavo Méndez signaled the end of the match, Argentina obtained the long-awaited victory and qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a contest in which it was eliminated by the host from the twelve steps on the remembered day of Lehmann’s piece of paper.
That June 8, 2005, Argentina won for the last time against Brazil in official matches. The 3-1 win for the Pékerman team marked the beginning of a losing streak for Albiceleste in the South American Superclásico. La Canarinha eliminated Argentina in the 2005 Confederations Cup, 2007 Copa América and 2019 Copa América. In addition, in the context of the Qualifiers, the National Team tied twice and lost twice. However, in friendlies the story was different: Argentina won five times.