Copa America has reached its fag end. The South American tournament was overshadowed by organisational problems, played in near-empty stadiums with the COVID-19 pandemic looming large in Brazil. However, in all of this, the populace will be treated to a mouth-watering finale of Brazil vs Argentina.

Hosts Brazil beat Peru 1-0 on Monday, and Argentina beat Colombia on penalties on Wednesday setting up a final at the Maracana on Saturday night (Sunday morning, India).

This will be for the first time since 2007, the continent’s two greatest rivals will lock horns in one of the world’s oldest international tournament.

Brazil opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Venezuela. This was just the beginning as they flew off the blocks and won all but one of its group matches. That was a draw. Having qualified to the knockout stages, they fielded a B-team against Ecuador in their last group game and a stalemate followed.

In the quarter-finals, they registered a 1-0 win against Chile and eked out a 1-0 win over Peru in the semi-finals.

Their 1-0 wins over Chile in the quarter-finals and Peru in the semi-finals were not sparkling, but their defensive record of conceding just two goals in their six games is impressive.

When Brazil won the 2019 edition, they had beaten Argentina and once they beat Peru, the hosts wanted a final against Argentina.

I want Argentina. I am cheering for them because I have many friends there. In the final, Brazil will win,” Neymar said.

Here’s how Brazil performed in the Group stage:

Match 1: Brazil 3-0 Venezuela

Match 2: Brazil 4-0 Peru

Match 3: Brazil 2-1 Colombia

Match 4: Brazil 1-1 Ecuador

Quarter-final: Brazil 1-0 Chile

Semi-final: Brazil 1-0 Peru

The main attraction of the final is Neymar vs Lionel Messi. They were the closest friend at Barcelona and the frontline of MSN (Messi-Suarez-Neymar) was one of the best attacking forces seen.

The final will be played at Maracana, 5:30am IST. Rio de Janeiro, one of the Brazilian cities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, gave the go-ahead for thousands of fans to attend the final.

The city has decided to allow a crowd of up to 7,800 people, 10% of the stadium’s full capacity of 78,000.

This would make it the first match in the 2021 Copa America, South America’s largest international football tournament, with fans in the stands.

Each side will receive 2,200 tickets for their fans.