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Philippe Coutinho continued his impressive campaign with a fine performance against Brazil's fierce rivals Argentina. Liverpool's number ten scored a wonderful goal to help his country to a convincing three-nil victory that left Lionel Messi's Argentina sixth in the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup.
Coutinho opened the scoring on twenty-five minutes before attacking partner Neymar added a second, his 50th senior international goal, on in first half injury time. Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho wrapped victory up just before the hour mark as Argentina remain without a win in four qualifying matches. Brazil, however, top the ten-team group with five wins out of five.
Coutinho appears to have cemented a starting place in Tite's line-up alongside Neymar and Gabriel Jesus in an exciting front three. During the international break, the focus on the club side is seeing players return safely from national duty without any injuries (we see you, Funes Mori). It is good to see, though, players becoming key figures for their national teams. Roberto Firmino made a late cameo to play his part in a satisfying win for Brazil, but as is becoming a familiar story this season, Philippe Coutinho stole the headlines.
Video by the excellent MrBoywunder.