Match Focus: Chile & Argentina Battle to End Trophy Drought in Copa America Final
The Copa America probably has the final it deserves. Chile were the team of the group stage, while Argentina, having promised so much without delivering once again, finally caught light in the semi-final with their 6-1 evisceration of Paraguay.
These are the two top scorers in the competition, the only two sides to win a game by more than a single goal, the two sides who have had the most possession and the
two sides with the highest pass success rate. They are also two sides with a burning need for success: Argentina to end a run without a trophy stretching back to 1993; Chile are seeking their first ever success, 99 years after they took part in the inaugural Copa America.
It’s only partly because of the relative ease of their draw that Chile have had 70.7% possession. They’ve dominated every game they’ve played and have had the best pass success rate. They’ve found goals harder to come by in the knock-out stages, but have comfortably outscored everybody else in the tournament with 13 in five games so far. They’ve been the most fluent side and, while incidents such as Gonzalo Jara’s poke on Edinson Cavani and Arturo Vidal’s unpunished shove to the face of Carlos Zambrano have caused unease, they’ve probably been the best side to watch.
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Chile are a side with a basic philosophy of hard-pressing, pushing high up the pitch and trying to win the ball back as quickly as possible, so it’s indicative of the extent to which they’ve controlled possession that they’ve made the second-fewest tackles per game and the third-fewest interceptions. They’ve had so much of the ball, they haven’t had to win it back.
Argentina, who have had 65.7% possession, will clearly test that aspect of Chile’s game far more seriously. It may be that Argentina, who have had problems maintaining the balance between the front and back of the side, decide that in el Nacional, it makes sense to allow the hosts the ball, sitting back and looking to operate on the counter. At Real Madrid, Angel Di Maria proved himself supreme at leading such attacks, judging when to run and when to release, and he has alongside him the pace of Sergio Aguero and the brilliance of Lionel Messi.
Messi, of course, is the unquantifiable aspect. All other discussion melts away beside him because if he plays well, Argentina win. He has a WhoScored.com rating 0.31 higher than anybody else in the tournament, and 0.7 higher than any opponent. He’s averaging 2.6 key passes per game, more than anybody in the tournament bar Chile’s number 10, Jorge Valdivia, and has completed 7.2 dribbles per game, more than twice as many as anybody else in the competition bar Jefferson Montero.
Even if Chile can somehow find a way to stop Messi, they are vulnerable in the air at the back - a result of them having the shortest average squad at the tournament. Only Colombia and Bolivia have won fewer aerial duels, and that means that set-plays are likely to be a major danger from a side that has won 15 aerials per game out of 25.6 contested. That’s a higher proportion than anybody else in the competition, even if the only set-play that has, so far, yielded a goal was Marcos Rojo turning in Messi’s free-kick against Paraguay.
Argentina look to have a greater range of attacking options than Chile, but the big question mark against them remains that defence, which has creaked alarmingly in both games against Paraguay. Both sides, in fact, have looked rather better going forward than at the back, which should lead to an engaging final. For somebody, the drought is about to break.
Who will win the Copa America Final? Submit your predictions in our match preview here
This is the best final you could ask for. Brazil and Colombia only have name, played like pure trash all tourney long. Paraguay and Peru played their part as great dark horses but this is what fans really want to see, the best teams making it. Argentina is better no doubt but Chile will even that by playing at home. Should be good.
"Messi doesn't perform for Argentina." --> Plays two finals in a row as a best player not only of Argentina but also of the tournaments. I think the haters actually mean: "He doesn't perform the same amount of miracles for Argentina as he does in Barca."
@blitz No you're right. He performs more of them (like getting to the WC Final with Chokeguain as his striker)
@han.li2 And don't forget palacio who missed a sitter in final .. Only if aguero was available for WC things wud have been different !!!
@blitz The problem is not that Messi cares less for Argentina (that much is obvious), it's probably that he cares too much for his national team!or maybe there's just too much pressure on him. when playing at Barca, he's more carefree and takes more chances;and is a bit more selfish.while playing as Argentina captain, he always prefers someone's 90% chance over his 80%. after a lot of his runs and dribbles he's had a really good chance of scoring himself, but has preferred Di Maria, Higuain, Pastore and Aguero. a lot of assists so near to the net only to make sure the ball will definitely go in.and that is beside the fact that he doesn't get the same treatment from other forwards.he's been playing so selfless,he's literally turned into a midfielder! also - unlike Barca - with Argentina, he takes almost no risks and ruthless dribbles! i'm not sure if it's good or bad for Argentina; but for Messi,it's giving people stupid ideas like he's not committed to Argentina and all.
Thank you Whoscored.com. You lead me to a new way of understanding modern football, and I really enjoy it.
We Hope that the referee will fair in this final!
@Ffaris it is about quality not quantity. Does size matter when it is indepth?
@moscovic Size always matters, no matter how or in which way
I think Chile deserve it more, as they have probably been the better side over the cos of the tourney
whoscored.com shortest article ever period maybe not as short miguel delaney(he has his own standard) but really short which is not really a good thing. Well i agree on one thing. This is going to be the best possible finals.