Written by George Simon
(June 6, 2016) – Argentina defeats Chile, 2-1, thanks to an excellent performance by Paris Saint-Germain’s Angel Di Maria and Sevilla FC’s Ever Banega. The current champions, Chile, disappointed in a game where their midfield seemed lost, and Alexis Sanchez didn’t have any luck on goal.
During the first half, both teams play conservatively passing the ball around trying to keep the ball creating few chances. A few attempts by Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain and Chile’s Eduardo Vargas were saved by both goalkeepers, Sergio Romero (Argentina) and Claudio Bravo (Chile), who each finished with a solid performance.
The game changed in the second half when Argentina’s Angel Di Maria started to change pace and create trouble for the Chilean defense. Di Maria had several runs and crosses searching for Higuain without any luck. Di Maria took the opportunity that Banega served him up a beauty of an attempt scored the first goal of the game in the 51st minute of the match with a great clinical finish.
After the first goal, Banega and Di Maria started to get together more and 8 minutes later, this time, Di Maria served Banega with a through ball leaving him one on one with Bravo, who was unable to save the shot and Argentina double their lead in the 59th minute of the game.
Chile suffered a lot from runs of Di Maria and Gaitan, showing the vulnerability that their defense got with fast players. Argentina kept control of the game and could have scored the 3rd goal at any moment, but an excellent performance by Chile’s goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, didn’t let them.
Chile pushed forward for the last minutes of the game, but the time was running out and on the last play of the game they got one goal back thanks to a header by Jose Fuenzalida, but it wasn’t going to be enough, and Argentina got the victory 2-1.
Argentina will try to lock their ticket to the quarterfinals next Friday, June 10th when they travel to Chicago to face Panama, while Chile will seek to recover in Foxborough when they play Bolivia on the same day.
During the first half, both teams play conservatively passing the ball around trying to keep the ball creating few chances. A few attempts by Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain and Chile’s Eduardo Vargas were saved by both goalkeepers, Sergio Romero (Argentina) and Claudio Bravo (Chile), who each finished with a solid performance.
The game changed in the second half when Argentina’s Angel Di Maria started to change pace and create trouble for the Chilean defense. Di Maria had several runs and crosses searching for Higuain without any luck. Di Maria took the opportunity that Banega served him up a beauty of an attempt scored the first goal of the game in the 51st minute of the match with a great clinical finish.
After the first goal, Banega and Di Maria started to get together more and 8 minutes later, this time, Di Maria served Banega with a through ball leaving him one on one with Bravo, who was unable to save the shot and Argentina double their lead in the 59th minute of the game.
Chile suffered a lot from runs of Di Maria and Gaitan, showing the vulnerability that their defense got with fast players. Argentina kept control of the game and could have scored the 3rd goal at any moment, but an excellent performance by Chile’s goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, didn’t let them.
Chile pushed forward for the last minutes of the game, but the time was running out and on the last play of the game they got one goal back thanks to a header by Jose Fuenzalida, but it wasn’t going to be enough, and Argentina got the victory 2-1.
Argentina will try to lock their ticket to the quarterfinals next Friday, June 10th when they travel to Chicago to face Panama, while Chile will seek to recover in Foxborough when they play Bolivia on the same day.