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Chelsea defender Thiago Silva: How Brazil plan to handle Messi in Copa America final

Chelsea defender Thiago Silva says he'll be ready for Argentina captain Leo Messi in the final of the Copa America.

Brazil captain Thiago Silva will lean on all his experience when facing the Barcelona superstar.

Preparation is key when facing Messi, even more so given the Barcelona star is likely to be especially motivated to win a first international trophy with Argentina. The 34-year-old has won La Liga 10 times and the Champions League on four occasions, as well as the Ballon d'Or six times, but has lost four finals with his national side, three of which came in the Copa America.

"Messi is an indispensable player who makes a difference," Thiago Silva explained. "He's a guy who unbalances and is very complicated to face because the recipe for stopping him doesn't exist.

"You have to minimise his offensive actions so that he has few spaces and then take care of the players who pass the ball to him. I will just try to do my job, make the ball rotate, believe in our game and in what the coach gives us."

He added: "Brazil versus Argentina is always very special and it is the two teams that in my view are the best in South America at this moment. It's only fair that we face each other in this final.

"We are responsible for this and what I say to the group now is to keep this joy, don't do anything different and continue to believe that we are capable of playing a great game and becoming champions."

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Paul Vegas

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