Chile must be flawless to beat Argentina, defender says – Football | The Star

Argentina will play Chile in the final, who have not yet won the COPA America.

So will decades of disappointment for the champions at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago.

It feels like it’s now or never for Chile.

Argentina have gone 22 years without lifting a major trophy.

The victor will celebrate a historic achievement.

It would also erase the sense of frustration Messi has often felt at worldwide level, 10 years after he led Argentina to victory as a teenager in the 2005 Under-20 World Cup.

Messi dropped deep into midfield, participated in five of the six goals and ended the night with three assists as Argentina turned it on here on Tuesday to set up a final against Chile in Santiago on Saturday.

“The truth is that it is not easy, seeing the quality that Leo has and what he has done throughout his career, it’s been unbelievable”, Bravo said in a press conference on Friday. Either Argentina and Chile play a cautious and cagey game that ends up 1-0 or in penalties or both teams attack wildly, with one team completely taking advantage on the counter and running up the score.

“He’s not the only one playing”.

“We are never afraid of other national teams”.

Saturday’s tie will bring Bravo face to face with another Barcelona team-mate – Argentine defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano.

Paraguay lost two key players because of injury in the first half – playmaker Derlis Gonzalez in the 26th minute and veteran striker Roque Santa Cruz in the 30th.

Aguero struggled for form and fitness throughout that tournament, but has so far been impressive in Copa America this year with three goals so far.

Although Messi helped Argentinas Under-23s win the Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing, his first major tournament was the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where the team fell in the quarterfinals. In the 2011 tournament at home, Argentina didn’t make it past the quarter-finals. We’ll be drawing on these figures throughout the piece.

However this is a final and anything can and will happen.

However, Argentina have won the previous four Copa Americas played in Chile – the last in 1991. There’s a lot of value on betting the home team, even if they open this final as the underdogs.

Di Maria told TV Publica he was “happy for the goals” and added: “It was a great game, a little bit hard after Paraguay scored, but we managed to control it in the second half”. However, there are no excuses for Argentina for not winning the 44th edition of the Copa America.

Martino also described the current Chile side as “the best Chilean generation in history”.