Chile’s Sharp Improvement Gives Them Huge Chance of Winning Copa America Again

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 20, 2016

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Last year Chile won the Copa America for the first time in their history. Now La Roja are starting to believe they can do it again.

However, roll back to the evening of June 10—when they were drawing 1-1 with Bolivia in the 99th minute of a gritty clash—and the wave of confidence they are currently riding wasn't even a speck on the horizon.

Having been beaten by Argentina in the tournament's first game, going down 2-1 in Santa Clara, California, Chile had travelled from the south-west to the north-east, and touched down in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

They had fought and scrapped against a Bolivia side determined to drag them down to earth and gain some revenge for the 5-0 beating they were handed by Chile in last year's Copa America.



This was a drab clash, only lit up by a brilliant free-kick by Jhasmani Campos to equalise Arturo Vidal's opener for Chile.

Eight minutes were added on and in the additional minute after those, Luis Gutierrez was adjudged to have handled in his own box, which seemed an extremely harsh decision. La Roja didn't care.

Vidal stepped up, now in the 100th minute, and stroked home the penalty to earn his side three vital points.

Lucky as it was, that was the moment which turned Chile's tournament around. It was salvation, when they had seemed doomed to draw and be on the verge of elimination; a weak attempt to defend the title they had waited 99 years to win.

They came into the next game against Panama—a direct shootout for qualification to the quarter-finals—more confident, alert and closer to their usual level.

Coach Jorge Sampaoli carried on the excellent work done by Marcelo Bielsa, and that is new manager Juan Antonio Pizzi's job too.

When he took over in January, it seemed a difficult job because the team seemed to have peaked, it wasn't as hungry having won the Copa, and Pizzi was fo...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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