Last Tuesday when Venezuela beat Argentina in the second round of South America's World Cup qualifiers it was historic, but hardly surprising.
Venezuela have been making dramatic strides, had home advantage and were taking on an especially vulnerable Argentina side - whose 4-1 win at home to Chile the previous Friday may have disguised the fact.
As highly influential former national team coach Cesar Luis Menotti commented, "against Chile we didn't play well, against an opponent that went out to commit suicide" - a reference to the absurdly attacking line up of the Chileans (largely rectified in the following match where coach Claudio Borghi reverted to his customary 3-4-1-2 as Chile beat Peru 4-2 in a magnificent game in Lima).
Against Venezuela, then, came the moment of truth for Argentina, and as all self-belief drained out of the side in the second half it was clear that Menotti had a point when he complained about the absence of any coherent central idea.
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It's the same teams, three months apart, coming up with a totally different spectacle.
Back in July the Copa America in Argentina was always enthralling, but its fascination was frequently the grim, attritional kind, with defences holding the upper hand.
Now in October, the first round of South America's marathon World Cup qualification campaign produced four open games - at times absurdly so - and 15 goals.
Much of this can be explained by the differing demands of tournament and league football.
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As recently as two decades ago, when Ecuador met Venezuela in World Cup qualification it was about as significant as when Liechtenstein take on the Faroe Islands.
Not any longer.
This Friday, the two South American countries face each other in the opening round of the continent's Fifa 2014 World Cup qualifiers - with both entitled to believe that they are taking the first step on the road to the finals in Brazil.
Some of this faith comes down to numbers. As hosts, Brazil are guaranteed a place in their own World Cup.
Without them there are just nine South American nations taking part in the qualifying process. But the continent has retained its full complement of slots. Four go through automatically.
The team finishing fifth will take part in a play-off against opponents from Asia. There is a good chance, then, that in addition to Brazil another five South American countries will be present at the 2014 World Cup.
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A glorious history, a rich culture, a production line of exciting players... South American football is endlessly fascinating. I cover the continent from my base in Rio.
© 2011