SANTIAGO, Chile – Alexis Sanchez converted the game-winning penalty kick, and Claudio Bravo came up big for his country blocking two spot kicks by Argentina, and Chile won their first ever Copa America Championship on home soil on Saturday.
120 minutes was not enough to crown a Copa America champion at the famed Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile on Saturday. After a scoreless draw, the two teams settled the historic final with penalty kicks.
Chile converted all four of their spot kicks, while Gonzalo Higuain and Ever Banega missed for Argentina, and La Roja took home the Copa America crown for the first time in history.
Chile was physical and aggressive with Argentina throughout the match, looking at times more like a rugby team than a soccer team. Their rough style of play stymied Argentine stars Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.
Di Maria came out of the match in the 29th minute with a hamstring injury. It was not immediately known the extent of the injury, but Di Maria was replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi and received treatment in the locker room.
The home fans in Santiago rallied around their country throughout the match, fueling La Roja with high energy, intensity and rejuvenated focus.
Chile surprised a lot of people as they controlled the greatest player in the world in Messi, and appeared to be the more talented, creative and composed team at multiple times throughout the match.
Chile dominated possession 57 percent to 43 percent for Argentina and had twice as many shots than La Albiceleste. Claudio Bravo often thought to be the best goalkeeper in the tournament, made two huge saves for Chile. Not to be outdone, Sergio Romero made an incredible save on Alexis Sanchez in the 82nd minute. The Chilean striker nearly buried a shot from the right side of the six-yard box into the far post, but Romero got a finger on it, just enough to keep it out of the net.
Argentina nearly won the match on the last play of regulation. Messi moved quickly down the center of the pitch and passed it off to a wide-open Lavezzi who had a shot from the left side of the box, but opted for a cross to Gonzalo Higuaín who just missed the one-timer by a matter of inches.
Messi only had 63 touches in regulation, the least amount of times he has handled the ball in the entire 2015 Copa America tournament. Both teams had precision passing as they combined to complete 84.43 percent of their passes, the highest accuracy in the Copa America tournament since 1993.
Chile nearly took the lead at the end of the first period in extra time. Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano whiffed on a free kick by Bravo, allowing Sanchez to streak down the right side of the pitch towards the goal. With a defender closing in, Sanchez quickly fired a shot from just inside the box that sailed over the crossbar, missing the net by less than a foot.
The monumental match for Chile was just the second time they defeated Argentina in their last 11 matches, but continues an unprecedented streak on home soil. Chile has won 10 of their last 11 matches in the Copa America tournament on home soil.
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