Chile beats Argentina to win first Copa America title

Monday, July 6, 2015

On Saturday, host nation Chile defeated Argentina 4–1 over penalties in the 2015 Copa América ((en))Spanish language: ‍America Cup, which was held in Estadio Nacional located in the Chilean city of Santiago, to clinch the title for the very first time.

File photo of Alexis Sanchez, who scored the winning penalty of the tournament.
Image: Government of Chile.

The first half saw 3 yellow cards. In total, both halves, 49 fouls were committed. Nobody scored in the first half of the match. Chile had 57% possession of the ball. The second half saw 4 yellow cards, but neither team could find the net. Since the second half ended in 0–0, the match proceeded to extra time. Gonzalo Higuaín missed some chances to score a goal for Argentina. Argentina has not won any major trophy in the past 22 years.

Chile began the penalty-shootout. Chilean players converted each penalty kick into goal, whereas except for FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi, no other Argentine could score a penalty. Misses by Higuaín and Banega turned out to be costly for Argentina and the final strike by Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez sealed the victory by the host nation.

Chilean captain Claudio Bravo won the golden glove trophy and Eduardo Vargas won top scorer award.

Match details

July 4, 2015
17:00 CLT (UTC−3)
Chile 0–0
4-1 (penalties)
Argentina Estadio Nacional, Santiago
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)
Fernández  
Vidal  
Aránguiz  
Sánchez  
  Messi
  Higuaín
  Banega


     
 
 
 
Chile
     
 
 
 
Argentina
GK 1 Claudio Bravo (c)
5 Francisco Silva   24'
21 Marcelo Díaz   44'
17 Gary Medel   34'
4 Mauricio Isla
20 Charles Aránguiz   86'
8 Arturo Vidal
15 Jean Beausejour
10 Jorge Valdivia   75'
11 Eduardo Vargas   95'
7 Alexis Sánchez
Substitutions:
14 Matías Fernández   75'
22 Ángelo Henríquez   95'
Manager:
Jorge Sampaoli
GK 1 Sergio Romero
4 Pablo Zabaleta
15 Martín Demichelis
17 Nicolás Otamendi
16 Marcos Rojo   55'
6 Lucas Biglia
14 Javier Mascherano    55'
21 Javier Pastore   81'
10 Lionel Messi (c)
11 Sergio Agüero   74'
7 Ángel Di María   29'
Substitutions:
22 Ezequiel Lavezzi   29'
9 Gonzalo Higuaín   74'
19 Éver Banega   91'    81'
Manager:
Gerardo Martino

Man of the Match:
Arturo Vidal (Chile)

Assistant referees:
Alexander Guzmán (Colombia)
Cristian De La Cruz (Colombia)
Fourth official:
José Argote (Venezuela)
Fifth official:
Christian Lescano (Ecuador)

Sources