Argentina has defeated Brazil in the latest chapter of historic South American soccer rivalry. The landslide 3-0 victory secured a place for the Argentineans in the Olympic final against Nigeria.

Argentina has defeated Brazil in the latest chapter of  historic South American soccer rivalry.

A battle between defending champion Argentina and five-time World Cup winner Brazil, the Olympic semifinal was a must see for faithful fans of South American soccer. Avid fans packed bars and restaurants in downtown Rio de Janeiro, where every TV set was broadcasting the match at Beijing's Workers' Stadium.

But the fans' enthusiasm began to die out as the game progressed. The Brazilian team led by Ronaldinho had a hard time breaking Argentina's defense in the first half of the match. Soon after half time, a reviving Sergio Aguero of the defending champion team proved his class by firing two goals within six minutes, and also won a penalty from which Juan Roman Riquelme completed the scoring.

The Brazilians suffered greatly in the demolition as both Lucas and Tiago Neves were sent out for rude tackles on Javier Mascherano at the end of the match.

At the office of a Brazilian newspaper agency, soccer faithful couldn't do anything but shake their heads and stare at the TV with a bitter smile.

Sports writer Mauricio Fonseca said, "Losing to Argentina 0:3 is depressing, but I think it's quite reasonable. I knew that Argentina was the better team even before the game started. Brazil didn't perform the best they could, the players didn't have enough time either before the Olympics to thoroughly prepare for the competition. Argentina deserves the victory. We'll settle with bronze."

The bitter defeat of Brazil quickly topped all major websites and newspapers in the country. The media and Brazilian fans were quick to blame coach Dunga and most of the players, particularly Milan's Ronaldinho, who was elected the world's best player by FIFA in 2004 and 2005. Sports commentators say Dunga's team lacked determination from the very beginning, and the change of players after Argentina scored two goals was no use.

Argentine former soccer player Diego Maradona, who sat in a VIP area in the stadium to watch the match, described the Brazilian team as "skimpy and defensive". The former star blamed their lack of team spirit, saying that Argentina surpassed the Brazilians in every meter of the field and the triumph was fair.

Argentina has defeated Brazil in the latest chapter of  historic South American soccer rivalry.