Chile and Argentina clashed Sunday night in East Rutherford, New Jersey with everything on the line in a rematch of last years Copa America final. That game ended 0-0 in regular time, and was decided on penalties. Chile ended up victorious in the shoot-out for their first ever Copa victory, and would come out on top yet again to reclaim their title with the same scoreline.
Argentina played direct right off the bat, and got a good chance because of it. Ever Banega had enough space atop the box to let loose, but his shot was dragged just wide to the left.
Chile got away with an early howler and Gary Medel was let off the hook. He took a heavy touch and lost possession to Gonzalo Higuain, putting the Napoli forward in on goal. Claudio Bravo closed Higuain down beautifully, giving the Argentine no space to shoot, and forced his shot to trickle just wide. Medel did well to work back, and in the end punished himself while trying to clear Higuain’s slow rolling shot by running into the goal post in a nasty collision.
Chile was then demoted to 10 men in the 29th minute when Marcelo Diaz received a second bookable offense, much to the delight of the Argentina heavy crowd. He obstructed Lionel Messi as the Barcelona man was cutting through the middle. The call will come under some scrutiny, as the foul was debatable, let alone the decision for a yellow. He made no move to block Messi, who in the end, ran into Diaz.
Marcos Rojo leveled the playing field in the 43rd minute in a slide tackle from behind on Arturo Vidal. The challenge left the Chilean in a heap as players from both sides came together to exchange some not-so-friendly words. The questionable call resulted in 10 men against 10 men. While the challenge was from behind, Rojo didn’t seem to make much contact with Vidal. It wasn’t the tackle that looked painful, but the way Vidal fell after, with his left leg folding underneath his body in an unnatural motion.
Tempers flared on both sides, with either team’s players demanding justice for tackles against their squad. On multiple occasions in the first half players came together to fight in a way that only soccer players could, pushing, verbal exchanges, and not much else.
Neither team was happy with the first half performance going into the locker room. The scores were level going in to halftime and both teams were reduced one man.
Chile started the second half looking to take advantage of the newly level playing field by playing with possession, and slowing the tempo down.
Chile’s first real shot would come in the form of a fairly desperate strike by right back Mauricio Isla from 25 yards out. His attempt was pulled wide and never threatened Sergio Romero in net.
Chile had another good opportunity in the 79th minute when Sanchez released Vargas in a large pocket of space on the right side of the field. Sanchez used some good footwork to get out of a tight space, and proceeded to switch the field to a wide-open Vargas. Nicolas Otamendi did well to marshal Vargas wide, forcing a difficult, but well-hit shot. Romero got down quickly to stop Vargas’s shot, keeping the score level.
Sergio Aguero could have given Argentina the lead in the 85th minute but his shot flew way over the goal. He created space on his own, and took a touch past Jean Beausejour. His shot from in the box was wasteful and let Chile off of the hook.
Chile had a great chance and could have taken the lead when Beausejour crossed to Vargas inside the 6-yard box. The Chilean left back had enough room to get to the end line and cut inside to roll the ball into Vargas’s path. It surely would have been a goal but Ramiro Funes Mori made a last ditch sliding tackle to prevent the tournament’s leading goal scorer from striking again.
At the fulltime whistle the score remained 0-0. Argentina had a handful of shots in the second half but nearly all were completely off the mark. Aguero and Ever Banega were the guilty parties, and should have at least challenged Bravo in net.
Extra time was much like the second half, with neither team trying to expose themselves by overcommitting. The result was few chances, but counter attacks for both sides. Chile had one particular counter that resulted in a rather pedestrian save by Romero. Edson Puch latched onto a loose ball down the left side and put in a cross for Vargas, whose effort was weak and easily claimed by Romero with a collapse dive to the right. While the cross had to be great to reach Vargas, curling over the head of Mascherano, it was slightly too high for the Chilean as his header glanced off of the crown of his skull
Argentina responded with a great chance of their own, coming off of a set piece. Otamendi’s looping header was perfectly placed, and headed for the top left corner. Bravo came across pawing the ball over the bar in an acrobatic save to keep Chile in the game.
Romero was forced off his line to clear in the 110th minute well outside of his box. Nicolas Castillo’s first touch of the game was a through ball for Edson Puch, which in the end was cut out by Romero. The Argentine keeper did well to read the pass and get there before Puch could latch onto the pass.
Messi had his moment in the 115’ minute in a free kick in a similar position to the one against the United States. This time his free-kick was lacking the quality and deflected off the wall and over the net.
Argentina has been in control for most of this second overtime period. Chile defended for their life as a barrage of crosses came in their box. Argentina struggled to make anything off these chances and the pressure subsided after a desperate long-range effort flew over the net.
Penalties:
Vidal [X], Castillo [√], Aranguiz [√], Beausejour [√], Silva [√]
Messi[X], Macherano [√], Aguero [√], Biglia [X]
Chile 0(4)-0(2) Argentina
Thoughts:
Challenges are flying in from both sides. The ref has done well to let things flow, but has made a mess of a few bookings.
The early yellow for Diaz came back to bite him well before the halt-time whistle.
Alexis has already been dispossessed multiple time. He would do well to play a bit quicker.
Fuenzalida is playing deep on the right side, allowing Vargas room to operate on the right wing, and Sanchez space to drift to the middle. Vidal then steps wide to the left in the space left by Sanchez. It appears like a 4-4-2.
Rojo made an incredibly silly challenge on Vidal. It was more so bookable than Diaz’s, yet probably could have been just a yellow. Funes Mori has filled in as a makeshift left back for Argentina with Rojo out, and Mascherano has dropped to center back.
The second half has been much more subdued. Both teams took their foot off of the gas as the game became much more civil. Tackles were less reckless and play slowed down.
Argentina had a few shots in the second half, but none came even close. They were poor efforts and never looked like they would threaten Bravo. Chile on the other hand has had fewer chances, but each has been well taken and dangerous. Vargas has done well to get in space and hit the target, and appears the most likely to score.
Overtime has been exciting but lackluster. Players are tired and struggled to make quality service. The defense has been superb, however, and very few chances looked to disturb Bravo or Romero with penalties looming.
The team that shoots first has a very high chance of winning in the shoot-out. Shown today with Chile and earlier when Colombia beat Peru.
Messi will be the goat for his missed penalty and will surely receive most of the blame. Biglia had his saved and cannot be really blamed.
Juan Antonio Pizzi received blame for some of Chile’s poor performances earlier this summer and in his tenure. But the man deserves credit, he did the most difficult thing as a coach, to come in after a championship year, and repeat.
Sergio Romero (1)
Gabriel Mercado (4), Nicolas Otamendi (17), R. Funes Mori (13), Marcos Rojo (16)
Javier Mascherano (14), Lucas Biglia (6)
Lionel Messi (10), Ever Banega (19), Angel Di Maria (7)
Gonzalo Higuain (9)
Alexis Sanchez (7), Eduardo Vargas (11), Jose Fuenzalida (6)
Charles Aranguiz (20), Arturo Vidal (8)
Marcelo Diaz (21)
Jean Beausejour (15), Gonazlo Jara (18), Gary Medel (17), Mauricio Isla (4)
Claudio Bravo (1)
Summary:
Kickoff
Yellow CHI: Diaz (21) 15’
Yellow/Red CHI: Diaz (21) 29’
Yellow ARG: Mascherano (14) 37’
Yellow CHI: Vidal (8) 37’
Yellow ARG: Messi (10) 40’
Red ARG: Rojo (16) 43’
Halftime
Yellow CHI: Beausejour (15) 52’
Sub ARG: Matias Kranevitter (5) for Angel Di Maria (7) 57’
Yellow CHI: Aranguiz (20) 69’
Sub ARG: Sergio Aguero (11) for Higuain (9) 70’
Sub CHI: Edson Puch (22) for Fuenzelida (6) 80’
Fulltime
Yellow ARG: Kranevitter (5) 94’
Sub CHI: Francisco Silva (5) for Sanchez (7) 103’
Sub CHI: Nicolas Castillo (16) for Vargas (11) 109’
Sub ARG: Eric Lamela (18) for Ever Banega (19) 111’
End Extra time
Copa America
