It took shootout to determine a goalless final between the home team Chile and Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the Copa América 2015. After two missed penalty kicks by Argentina, Chile became South American champions for the first time.
The final
Last time Argentina won the Copa América was in 1993. Chile had never managed to win the tournament. Now they had the chance at home. The finale was characterized by rough play and seven yellow cards were handed out. Neither team managed to score after 90 minutes. Gonzalo Higuain, who plays in Italian team Napoli, Series A, was closest to score, but missed the goal in the last minute of the game. After a goalless overtime shootout awaited. Matías Fernández scores his first for Chile and Lionel Messi tied to 1-1. After Arturo Vidal scored, Higuain missed. 2-1 Chile. In the third round of penalties Charles Aranguiz scored on his penalty while Ever Banega missed his which meant 3-1 Chile and that they would be champions at home if Alexis Sánchez scored on his penalty, which he did.
Copa América 2015
We have experienced a thrilling tournament in Chile with a lot of good teams. The giants Argentina and Brazil are certainly not alone at the top, there are a number of teams that can challenge them. Chile showed it by winning the gold, Peru got the bronze after 2-0 against Paraguay. Brazil were eliminated by Paraguay after a shootout in the quarterfinals and Argentina could have faced the same destiny against Colombia, but managed to make it through to the semis. We have seen a number of stars on the pitch, Messi and Neymar was perhaps the most well-known before the tournament started. Neymar however, got a suspension and Messi has not delivered as much in Argentina’s offense as we hoped. Peru’s Paolo Guerrero and the Chilean Eduardo Vargas were the top scorers of the tournament with 4 goals each. There were a total of 59 goals in 26 games, which gives an average of ~ 2.3 goals per game.
Copa América 2019 is played in Brazil. Before that the Copa América Centenario will be played next summer, in the United States, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the South American Championships. In 1916 Argentina hosted the tournament and came second after Uruguay. In 2016 Messi and his teammates get another chance to win a title with the national team. The harvest of final losses for this generation of Argentine footballers is getting a bit to big…
