Chile defeated Argentina 4-2 on penalties in the Copa America finals to lift their second straight title at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Chilean national team defended their Copa America title after beating Argentina in both finals on penalties. The loss left La Albiceleste are still in search for their first major tournament title since 1993.
Claudio Bravo stopped Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia’s shot in the fourth round of the shootout, Chile needed only to to score their fifth penalty to seal the victory.
Midfielder Francisco Silva netted the decisive penalty to win the shootout for La Roja. The 30-year-old’s winner came moments after Argentina superstar Lionel Messi shockingly missed his penalty.
Argentina started of the match as the better side, using their pace and agility to cause the Chilean defence problems as Gonzalo Higuain had a great opportunity in the 23rd minutes to put his side ahead when he pounced on a slip from Gary Medel. However, the striker chipped the ball just wide of the Chilean goal.
In the 28th minute Chilean midfielder Marcelo Diaz received his marching orders after he collided with Messi.
Two minutes before half-time and Argentine defender Marcos Rojo was shown a straight red card for a hard tackle on Arturo Vidal.
The two sides were evenly matched in the second-half, with both sides having decent chances to put their teams ahead as Messi found Sergio Aguero on the flank and Aguero ballooned his effort well over the goal.
Argentine goalkeeper Romero saved an Eduardo Vargas header in the 99th minute
Aguero arguably had the best chance of extra time in the 101st minute, when Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo tipped away the Manchester City forwards header.
With the game still goalless after 120 minutes, penalties beckoned, just as they did in last year’s Copa final between these two teams.
Vargas didn’t score Sunday, but took the Powerade Golden Boot as leader for the tournament in goals with six. Chile’s Alexis Sanchez was awarded the MasterCard Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, while Bravo won the Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper for the second straight tournament.
Photo: Reuters
