He was Brazil and I was Germany. He just kept lofting me to death and Brazil would just outrun me. I'm still new at the game so I'm probably doing something wrong.
Pro-tip for defense, when he has possession and is making his way quickly towards your goal focus on catching up with your midfielders instead of switching to your defenders and bringing them up (and out of position). Most of the time players ignore what's happening behind them so you can get a lot of steals sprinting up from the back, and you also avoid getting destroyed by lobbed through passes.
Once he is well into your third you will probably have to start playing your defenders, at which point you should focus on staying in front of the attacking player. Don't sprint a lot at that point, just strafe in front of them and wait for a good tackling opportunity. Also, at that point slide tackling should be an absolute last resort, abuse it and you will die.
One more little tip: always try to push your opponent towards the sidelines when you are controlling a defender. The most dangerous shooting opportunities obviously come from the middle of the field so do your best to coerce your opponent into moving away from it.
Sorry for the rambling but I love FIFA.