INSERT DESCRIPTIONJuan Riquelme of Argentina is closed down by Marcelo, Lucas and Anderson of Brazil during the men’s football semifinal match between Argentina and Brazil. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Good morning! Argentina versus Brazil in the semifinals from the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, the game everyone wished was the soccer final. Follow our coverage below.

Brazil was favored heading into the game, what with its 11-0 goal difference, its hunger for an Olympic gold medal (the only major competition they have never won) and the presence of Ronaldinho. Argentina won the gold medal in Athens and has the talent to match Brazil, but it was missing its starting goalkeeper (injury) and a starting defender (suspension). The good news for the Argentines was they still had Lionel Messi, a sublime talent, up front.

A special plus for all of you today: AT&T pulled MSNBC from my channel lineup here in Connecticut about a month ago, so you’ll be spared snarky asides on the commentators (they are, of course, welcome in the comments). I’ll be watching on Telemundo, which I consider a superior viewing experience in most cases anyway given the dearth of U.S. anounncing talent. (O.K., you won’t be spared ALL the snarky comments.)

Game on. (Start at the bottom for the full experience.)

FULL TIME Less than a minute of added time, which was probably too much for Brazil. Wow. You don’t see them carved up like that every day.

Argentina’s victory was well earned. Aguero is your man of the match, scoring twice and drawing the penalty for the third goal. Riquelme and Messi rank right up there with him. Messi and Ronaldinho, former Barcelona teammates, shared a moment after the game, but it’s clear whose stock is higher now.

Argentina heads to the final against Nigeria. Should be super. I don’t know who I’d want to be less right now: Dunga, the Brazilian coach who will have to answer for this, or Belgium, which gets an embarrassed Brazil in the bronze-medal game.

Enjoy your day, everyone. Make a comment, and then get back to work.

90 Riquelme comes off for Jose Sosa. If this was in Buenos Aires they’d be roaring. I think the Chinese crowd is just stunned by what they’ve seen in the last half-hour. Don’t expect much extra time.

88 Messi has a shot deflected wide from 10 yards. A goal from him might just be the exclamation point. And when I said earlier that either team was capable of winning 4-0, I didn’t actually think it could happen.

85 RED CARD Make that nine men for Brazil. Thiago Neves is gone after clipping Mascherano, who didn’t get protection like this from his mother. (Just kidding; it’s hard to argue that either card was a foul, but a straight red there seems mean.) The Telemundo guys don’t seem to agree with either card, but they’re not really quibbling too much.

81 RED CARD The news gets worse for Brazil, which loses Lucas after he fouls Mascherano from behind. Considering the referee just warned him a few minutes ago, he doesn’t have much of a case. Not that it makes much difference at this point.

80 Aguero plays for Atletico Madrid, by the way.

77 Jo is on for Brazil. Didn’t see who came off, but I’m guessing it was Diego, who was invisible today.

76 GOAL!!!!! ARGENTINA 3-0! Riquelme buries the penalty in the bottom right corner! They’re hosing off Andres Cantor right now. That was a three-GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLer. How do you say “good night” in Portuguese?

73 PENALTY! Breno pulls down Aguero, who can seemingly do no wrong, after a slick entry pass from Messi.

72 I can’t believe MSNBC was in commercial for the second goal. Did they miss Brazil’s nullified goal, too? Geez. Cover the game or don’t.

67 YELLOW Anderson on Mascherano. Touch foul; let them play ref!

65 YELLOWDi Maria got the yellow on the free kick. I didn’t see anything physical, so maybe it was something spoken.

64 Ronaldinho fires the second shot off the left post. Rebound — Goal!? No!! Pato put it in but was called offside.

63 Foul on Pareja gives Brazil a chance from 25 yards straight out front. Ronaldinho hits the wall. Unseen yellow-card foul gives him a second chance.

61 Brazil makes two changes — Thiago Neves for Hernanes, and Alexandre Pato for Rafael Sobis. I guess Dunga is putting aside his complaints about Pato, his teenage superstar.

60 There’s blood in the water now. Messi thwarted on a rush into the area.

58 ARGENTINA 2-0!!!! Another stunner. A wave drives Brazil back, cross from the right and Aguero has another!!! He just taps it in; where’s the defense? If Aguero missed it, Di Maria was free too, right behind him.

54 Dipping shot by Brazil beats Romero at his right post but clanks out. As deadly as Argentina was on its goal, they were fortunate there. A minute later Rafinha curls a right-footed ball over Romero, but it spins away from the left post and sails out.

52 ARGENTINA 1-0!!!! Stunner. Aguero scores, but really he merely got in front of a rocketed cross from the left. I think Di Maria sent it in.

51 Sergio Aguero is spring but is quickly closed down by three Brazilian defenders in the area.

48 Back under way. Rafael Sobis offside; I think that’s the first one of the game. Everyone seems muy cautious today.

HALFTIME 0-0 I think we’d all prefer it be 2-2 instead of scoreless, but each team seems to be weighting risk-reward. Good plan, since each knows the other is equipped to win 4-0 if they’re not careful on defense.

Re: Your style of play comments. I meant no slight to Argentina, a team that takes a back seat to no one in skills on the ball. Just that when a team strings together 8 or 9 smooth rolling passes, it always reminds me of Brazil circa 1970 and Carlos Alberto’s epic goal in Mexico. And thanks to those whoever corrected my Spanish. No, I don’t speak it, but it makes a nice soundtrack. (Try typing away while you’re watching and you can appreciate even poor English-language commentary.)

42 Hernanes from 35 yards — a rocket just over the bar! Nice idea; it wouldn’t kill Brazil to be a little more direct.

40 Or they could try this: Messi takes the ball on the touch line, dribbles through several players, muscles some space and fires a low shot that Renan can only parry. If only he had brought someone along to help with the rebound.

39 Argentina is funneling everything through the center, but they may need to go wider for a bit to stretch out the Brazilian defense and create some space.

30 YELLOW for Hernanes, who takes down Messi at the top right corner of the area. Dangerous tackle in that spot, and now a more dangerous free kick. Riquelme drives it into the wall, and a secondary chance is wasted by an off-target cross through the open center of the goalmouth.

28 Rafael Sobis, who replaced Alexandre Pato in Brazil’s lineup, fell on his wrist after losing the ball on the edge of the area. It appears he will live. Possession is starting to even out, thanks in large part to Ronaldinho’s escapability.

26 I should note that the winner today gets Nigeria in the final; Nigeria routed Belgium, 4-1, in Shanghai.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Nigeria reached the Olympic football final with a 4-1 victory over Belgium, getting long-range goals from Emmanuel Ekpo and Chibuzor Okonkwo.

The 1996 Olympic champions took control Tuesday with goals by Olubayo Adefemi and Chinedi Ogbuke Obasi. Ekpo then scored a spectacular 30-meter (yard) shot in the 72nd and Okonkwo’s 25-meter (yard) drive four minutes later went in off the post.

18 YELLOW for Brazil’s Breno. He probably could have gotten away with a talking-to if he hadn’t just assaulted another Argentine on the last corner.

16 Lots of possession by Argentina, which is keeping the ball on the ground. Would they be insulted if I said they look positively Brazilian?

12 Aguero frees himself inside four defenders in the Brazilian area, spins and pulls his shot just outside the right post. Two great chances. Looks like we could be going end to end here.

11 Rafinha burst forward up the right side, cut back into the area and –OOOOHH! — just misses a teammate in the center. Now you know why his German team wanted him to stay home.

6 YELLOW CARD on Argentina’s Zabaleta for a chop-down foul. So I guess Argentina hasn’t forgot everything about its game.

5 Danger again from Argentina. Messi and Riquelme working well in tight spaces to force a corner. The flash so far has been in blue and white, although the corner drifts harmlessly into the goalkeeper’s hands.

3 Ronaldinho up from with Sobis and Diego for Brazil, but first good shot from Mascherano of Argentina, who fired high and wide from the top of the area.

8:56 a.m. Oh, and Brazil has a peppier anthem, so that’s another check in its column today. The crowd certainly sounds like it is on Brazil’s side.

8:55 a.m. I think Estadio de los Tabajadores is a better-sounding name than Workers Stadium. But then I’m just a humble trabajador.

8:48 a.m. For those of you who haven’t followed the tournament, Brazil has yet to allow a goal while scoring 11. Coaches around the world are shuddering at the idea of Brazil with a lockdown defense. A cynic would argue that its path to today’s game — victories over Belgium, New Zealand, China and Cameroon — was easier than the one Argentina had to follow (Ivory Coast, Australia, Serbia and the Netherlands), but no one likes a cynic.