Real Madrid's Rodrygo humbled during Brazil thrashing

Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Rodrygo was on the end of a brutal put-down by the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes during a humbling 4-1 World Cup qualifying defeat on Tuesday evening.

Rodrygo was hooked at half-time while the hosts were already 3-1 up, trudging off the pitch after failing to take or create a single shot. During a mass melee prior to the interval, the Brazilian found himself compelled to take aim at Paredes.

"You're very bad," Rodrygo told his Roma counterpart, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo. Yet, Paredes had a swift and cutting retort. "I have two Copa America titles and one World Cup. You have zero. You have zero," he fired back.

Rodrygo only made his international debut four months after Brazil's triumph in the 2019 Copa America. Over the subsequent six years, the wispy forward has endured successive quarter-final exits in the 2022 World Cup and last summer's Copa America - both of which Argentina won with Paredes a regular in midfield.

Brazil's only shot in the first half was Matheus Cunha's goal which came from a rare piece of blundering play from Cristian Romero. Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez had already fired the hosts into a 2-0 lead.

Argentina continued to ram home their dominance after the interval yet only scored once more, with Giuliano Simeone coming off the bench to blast in his first-ever international goal.

Rodrygo has never been involved in a victory over Argentina, with Brazil's most recent win in this historic international rivalry the 2019 Copa America final. Despite their dominance, the 4-1 thrashing represents a new peak for this iteration of the reigning world champions - and a new nadir for Brazil. Argentina haven't beaten Brazil by a three-goal margin since a side captained by the towering Antonio Rattin romped to a 3-0 win over Pele's Selecao in 1964.

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