Written by George Simon
(June 26, 2016) - Chile is crowned champion of the Copa America Centenario 2016, after defeating Argentina on penalties for a 2nd year in a row. "La Roja" wins their 2nd Copa America title in their history after the one they won last year as a host country against Argentina.
The Chileans repeat the same result as last year's final against the same rival and with the same result. This time, Argentina dominated the game, which was played by ten players for both teams due to the red cards awarded to Marcos Rojo (Argentina) and Marcelo Diaz (Chile) in the first half.
Chile started their road to the championship against the other finalist Argentina in the first game of the group stage where they lost 2-1, but they came back to win the defeat Bolivia 2-1 and Panama 4-2 before going to an incredible knockout stage where they defeated Mexico 7-0 in the quarterfinals and Colombia 2-0 in the semifinals. After that, they came to the final and beat Argentina in the penalty shootout, with another great performance by Claudio Bravo, who saved a penalty in the shootout to capture the title for Chile.
The Chileans started the penalty shootout with their primary player, Arturo Vidal who wanted to score the first penalty just like last year but this time, Argentina's Sergio Romero saved the penalty and gave hope to the "Albiceleste". The first penalty for Argentina was taken by the captain, Lionel Messi; his shot unbelievably missed the target as the star sailed the ball over the crossbar and into the stands. The miss gave a confidence boost to Chile and can be assumed to have taken away much of the confidence of the Argentinian players. Francisco Silva was the chosen to shoot the critical penalty and with confidence, he scored the goal that gave Chile their second Copa America in a row.
The Chileans repeat the same result as last year's final against the same rival and with the same result. This time, Argentina dominated the game, which was played by ten players for both teams due to the red cards awarded to Marcos Rojo (Argentina) and Marcelo Diaz (Chile) in the first half.
Chile started their road to the championship against the other finalist Argentina in the first game of the group stage where they lost 2-1, but they came back to win the defeat Bolivia 2-1 and Panama 4-2 before going to an incredible knockout stage where they defeated Mexico 7-0 in the quarterfinals and Colombia 2-0 in the semifinals. After that, they came to the final and beat Argentina in the penalty shootout, with another great performance by Claudio Bravo, who saved a penalty in the shootout to capture the title for Chile.
The Chileans started the penalty shootout with their primary player, Arturo Vidal who wanted to score the first penalty just like last year but this time, Argentina's Sergio Romero saved the penalty and gave hope to the "Albiceleste". The first penalty for Argentina was taken by the captain, Lionel Messi; his shot unbelievably missed the target as the star sailed the ball over the crossbar and into the stands. The miss gave a confidence boost to Chile and can be assumed to have taken away much of the confidence of the Argentinian players. Francisco Silva was the chosen to shoot the critical penalty and with confidence, he scored the goal that gave Chile their second Copa America in a row.