'Eternal rivalry' goes 2OT as Argentina beats Brazil in men's basketball
RIO DE JANEIRIO – No matter the sport, “Anything against Argentina, it’s going to be crazy,” Brazil’s Anderson Varejao told USA TODAY Sports hours before the two countries played an important men’s Olympics basketball game on Saturday.
“It’s one of those games where winning is something you’ll remember forever.”
Varejao was right on both counts. It was crazy, and Argentina will remember this for a long time, and Brazil will have trouble forgetting.
Argentina 111, Brazil 107 in double overtime.
Elation for Argentina, which trailed for most of the second half until Andres Nocioni’s three-pointer bounced all over the rim before falling through the net with three seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 85.
“The heart of some of our players is incredible,” longtime NBA and international star Manu Ginobili said.
Heartbreak for Brazil, which led 94-88 in the first overtime and 83-75 late in the fourth quarter.
“It's really hard to understand why we lost that game. We had the game in our hands,” NBA veteran and Brazil guard Leandro Barbosa said.
Nocioni scored 37 points, and gutsy point guard Facundo Campazzo scored 33 for Argentina. Houston Rockets big man Nene had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Brazil.
“This is great. This is an eternal rivalry for us,” Nocioni said. “What we did today was big.”
The game mattered not only because of competition implications but because the fans cared.
In a loud and festive soccer-like atmosphere at soldout Carioca 1 Arena at Barra Olympic Park, spectators delivered spirited chants and cheers, waved flags and maintained a measurable decibel level.
“The rivalry was normal for Brazil-Argentina,” Nocioni said. “Today the fans supported the team. It was a good thing for us and for Brazil.”
Brazilian fans – wearing the yellow and green of Brazil’s national team – packed the arena. Argentine fans – wearing the Carolina blue and white stripes of the Argentina’s national team – made the trip and provided men’s basketball with its most electric game.
“Outside of the court, we are friends, but inside the court it is a rivalry,” Barbosa said. “We never wanted to lose to them, and they never wanted to lose to us.”
Olympic officials were concerned about potential problems between fans, and Brazil star Marcelo Huertas and Argentina star Luis Scola delivered pregame messages urging sportsmanship.
“Things are being heated up a little bit between us. It's always like that, but it's funny because it's only in soccer,” Scola said. “We like Brazilians. We (Argentines) come here for holidays – like 70% of the Argentinians come here, and they treat us amazing. They come to our home and we treat them well. We are neighbors.
“But soccer is a different story. There's fights, big fights and dangerous fights all the time. We kind of got caught up in that a little bit in the Olympic Games, and this is not the place for that. This is a place for families, a place for friends, a place to have fun.”
Rio 2016 Olympic executive communications director Mario Andrada addressed the topic for the second consecutive day.
"We take every game very seriously and all the necessary security precautions are taken,” Andrada said Saturday. “This game is very important for both teams. It's going to be a mega-party. It will be fun to see the rivalry moving from football to basketball. I'm sure they will behave and leave the stadium as brothers.”
The hoops rivalry between the two countries isn’t as rooted in time and theatrics as the soccer rivalry. But there’s history. Argentina eliminated Brazil 82-77 at the 2012 London Olympics and 93-89 at the 2010 FIBA World Cup. Brazil knocked out Argentina from the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
Aging Argentina is still led by four players from its Golden Generation gold-medal winning team of the 2004 Athens Olympics – Scola, Ginobili, Nocioni and Carlos Delfino. It advanced to the quarterfinals and still has a chance to medal one last time with that core.
The coach of that 2004 Argentina team? Argentinian Ruben Magnano, now Brazil’s coach. Brazil has prepared for this moment since Rio was awarded the Olympics. Winning a medal is important for the improving and growing basketball nation. It needed to win this game to improve its chances of advancing to the knockout round.
The scene outside the arena told the story. Fans in yellow and green wore disappointment on their faces.
Fans in blue and white celebrated and left in joy.