There were no answers. Only questions. Lots of them. Why was 33 year-old Renato Abreu handed an international debut for one side? Why was a fractionally younger Sebastian Dominguez playing for the other? Why were the likes of Casemiro, Lucas and Oscar warming the Brazilian bench? What are we calling it, a lambreta or a bicicleta?  What is this? And what on earth were we all doing there in the first place?

We were there, of course, for the greatest international fixture of all – Argentina vs Brazil. Well, sort of. Argentina C vs Brazil B to be slightly more accurate; though only slightly. We were there for the first of a double header that would crown the new Copa Roca champions. Or rather the Copa Dr. Nicolas Leoz, renamed after the king of the continent, Conmebol President Nicolas Leoz. That’s why we were there, weren’t we? No, not really. We were essentially just there for a bit of fun. But as referee Enrique Osses signalled the end of a goalless draw in Cordoba on Wednesday night, it hadn’t even been that. Leandro Damiao’s sublime lambreta aside, it had been dull, uninteresting and monotonous. And pretty bloody pointless.

This Copa was worthwhile once upon a time. First contested in 1914, it was christened the Copa Roca after former Argentina President Julio Roca donated a trophy ahead of the first official contest in 1914. Believing the game could help forge a kinship between the two countries, on one official visit to Rio de Janeiro during his presidency at the turn of the 19th century Roca brought with him an Argentinian representative team to face the locals. According to folklore, with his side 3-0 up half time, and concerned that the ensuing hammering mightn’t go down to well with their hosts, Roca urged his team to show their patriotism by throwing the second half.

But such benevolence wouldn’t last, and over the next 62 years the tournament became something of a grudge match between the two. “The Copa Roca was for many years a kind of argument settler, a unique ranking tool to decide who was doing better than the other,” former Brazilian international Clodoaldo told Fifa.com last week. “It brought together two powerful sides and neither wanted to lose.” 35 years on, in the Copa Nicolas Leoz first leg at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes on Wednesday, there was nothing super about the clasico between the two, regardless of how many times Globo and TyC tried to tell us otherwise. With both sides restricted to selecting only domestic-based players, Argentina would be lucky to get away without a thrashing. The contrasting economical sates of the two the countries’ domestic games meant Brazil coach Mano Menezes could name a squad infinitely more talented than that of his opposite number Alejandro Sabella. The group Sabella took to India to take on Venezuela at the beginning of the month included only one domestic- based player, third choice goalkeeper Esteban Andrada; Menezes had ten accompany him to London to face Ghana two weeks ago.

“Argentina are always a great rival,” Ronaldinho told the Argentine media on the eve of the match. Perhaps not this time. After Juan Veron and Juan Roman Riquelme pulled out through a combination of injury and fatigue, ‘Ronnie’ arrived in Cordoba with five times as many caps as the entire Argentina side put together. “Argentina won 0-0” declared Mundo Albiceleste, summing up the gulf between the two sides. With an average age of almost 28 years-old, the only player harbouring any realistic ambitions of an immediate international future was the night’s standout performer, Velez Sarsfield’s Juan Manuel Martinez. In fact six of the starting eleven came from reigning champions Velez – who in the last two years have reaped the rewards for the astuteness with which the club is run. But only one of those six was under 25. That one got to wear Argentina’s ten for the night, and would have done his reputation no harm with an impressively assured performance in midfield. “He distributed the ball really well,” said Ronaldinho of 22 year-old Hector Canteros.

For Menezes the fixture seemed to offer an opportunity to take a closer look at some of the rising stars that could play a major role in World Cup 2014; one he wasted with his team selection, leaving young Sao Paulo starlet Lucas, Vasco’s Romulo and U-20 World Cup winners Oscar and Casimiro warming the bench. The inclusion of 33 year-old Renato Abreu in central midfield was particularly perplexing, and Brazil repeatedly struggled to link defence and attack. As a result, Ronaldinho, Neymar and Leandro Damiao were largely disappointing. It’s increasingly difficult to see the point in domestic-based teams and neither manager would have learned much about anything on Wednesday night. Argentina have now called up over 100 players in the last 12 months – something many might do well to remember when trudging out that old stat about Diego Maradona’s time in charge of Los Albicelestes. Aside from the respective federations’ bank accounts, it seems few will profit from what will now become an annual fixture. Sabella said on Wednesday night that his team would have to work do before the return leg in Belém in two weeks time, while Neymar insisted his side were pleased with the result and were confident they would finish the job on home soil. Though in truth, you wonder if anyone really cares.