Ekun Samuel, 5 July 2015.
Host Chile goes into the Final of the Copa America with their long wait for their first international major trophy, seeking their first Copa America trophy
in 99 years with 37 attempts, as they played host to Argentina in Santiago.
They were rewarded for their passion and zeal to to win the tournament for the first time. In a game that saw them played their hearts out, with energetic display, relentless commitment and effort to hold the Argentine’s who were also seeking to win their first Copa America title since 1993.
One trophy that eludes Barcelona Lionel Messi is a major international trophy with his Country, and he was seeking to end that wait as he was harassed and harangued all over the field, taking him and Argentina out of their element.
Chile were obviously more constrained and less confident in pouring forward but picked their moments well. Other than Higuain’s stoppage-time miss, the hosts had the best chances of the game, with Arturo Vidal and Sanchez both being presented with good chances for volleys in the box.
After 90 minutes of play, it was penalty shootout that saw Chile scoring all four of their penalties and Argentina scoring only one through Lionel Messi opening penalty that gave them a 4-1 win over Argentina.
It was a horrible night for Pablo Higuan who missed an opening chance before the end 90 mins of normal time played through a low cross from Lavezzi Ezequiel at the back post. And went on again to miss a penalty as he skied it over the cross bar. Industrious Arsenal Alexis Sanchez scored the winning penalty for Chile as they went on to celebrate their first ever Copa America trophy and first major international trophy on home soil.
In a statement made by Arturo Vidal after the match he said; “This is a dream come true, this team deserves something like this.
“We left our life on the field. Chilean people needed this joy and we managed to give it to them.
“We’ll fight a lot in the next World Cup. This generation of players deserved this.”
