And so after 23 days, the oldest tournament in the world will have a new winner to determine who is the best team in The Americas. The teams are the hosts Chile, who with a nation's expectations and pressure on the 23 players shoulders will be finally over if they can win their first ever title in Copa America history. Argentina on the other hand were the pre-tournament favorites going into this competition and now with Lionel Messi and others, look to hopefully capture their first Copa America and senior title since 1993.
Chile's road to the final
Chile cruised through the group stages of the tournament with comfortable wins against Ecuador (2-0) and Bolivia (5-0) and a thrilling 3-3 draw with Mexico. They then had some controversy in the 1-0 victory over Uruguay in the quarterfinal with an incident with Mainz's Gonzalo Jara and PSG's Edinson Cavani where the Uruguayan was sent off as well as the 2-1 victory against Peru which also caused some controversy, as Peru played with 10 men due to a disputable sending-off. There is this whole feeling by the Chileans regarding that this is their biggest chance for this team which by popular consent is their best side in their history so the pressure is now on them to perform in this Copa America against a real heavyweight like Argentina.
Jorge Samapoli knows that he's been a cult hero and breath of fresh air as a Marcelo Bielsa disciple since joining La Roja in 2012. He went into the tournament as possibly the manager with the most pressure and now can relieve all that with this win front of 49,000 fans in the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. He stated that ''Chile have never been favourites in any tournament and often it is good for us to feel that, because they are full of energy and enthusiasmbut we are not fearful at all, no matter who the opponent is.''
Argentina's road to the final
While Argentina did not have any real troubles getting out of their group, they only scored four goals in three matches: 2-2 vs. Paraguay and 1-0 vs. Jamaica and Uruguay. Despite the penalty shootout against Colombia where La Albiceleste went through as winners, they saved up all their goals in a 6-1 rout to Paraguay once again in the semifinal as FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, Manchester United's Angel Di Maria, PSG's Javier Pastore and Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain all played a role to see Argentina in their first final since 2007. They haven't won it since the side with Gabriel Batistuta, Diego Simeone and Fernando Redondo lead them to glory in Ecuador in 1993 against Mexico, but this is the perfect timing for this Argentine generation as a motivated team to win a trophy with these huge individual players to avenge their World Cup loss to Germany last summer in Brazil as they look to bring the trophy back to the River Plata and return to the country as heroes.
Argentina know what to expect against this ultra attacking Chilean side. "There are footballing ideas that don't change," says coach Gerardo Martino. "Whoever they are against, Chile are going to play the same way. They are going to attack us as they do against any opponent, and they are going to do it with a lot of men."
Team news
Chile will field an unchanged side from that which beat Peru in the semifinals and that has been used during the entire course of the tournament, with the exception of Gonzalo Jara, who is suspended for the remainder of the tournament.
As for Argentina, the World Cup finalists will also field an unchanged side with the return of Ezequiel Garay, as he was replaced by Martin Demichelis in that semifinal against Paraguay due to an illness. Nevertheless, it's a deep squad full of talent and will definitely provide Chile some trouble.
Players to watch
Two players for each side will be chosen. For Chile, it'll go to what I believe is the player of the tournament in Al-Wahda's Jorge Valdivia. He's had a tremendous tournament as he's provided three assists in all five matches. He's clearly Chile's main playmaker, a very versatile player who gives clarity into his passes to the attack of Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas and more. The QPR man is also the man to watch up front as he is that player who under Sampaoli has gotten confidence to score 20 of his 22 goals for his national team under the Argentine and with four goals to his name, he is looking to leave the tournament, not only as a champion but as the top goalscorer.
For Argentina, Sergio Aguero will be the clear player to watch for. He scored three goals for his national team and has had a great tournament fresh off his rough Premier League season where players like Radamel Falcao and Alexis Sanchez have not been providing their best, the Manchester City striker seems to prove the exact opposite. A speedy intelligent player with his movements, he is capable of despite his small stature, he can make those movements in between the center backs to get on the end of crosses, something Chile has been vunerable during the match against Chile. As for Javier Mascherano, if he can stop Valdivia in this match as the stamp of authority, a lot of Chile's clarity disappears.
It will be a tight one between both teams they both look to achieve glory for the first time in a long time, give a great preparation for the upcoming Copa America in the United States next year and the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for Russia starting in the fall. Not only is a trophy at stake, also a 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup berth to represent South America in Russia in two years time.
Predicted lineups:
Chile (4-3-1-2): Bravo; Medel, Isla, Albornoz, Rojas; Vidal, Díaz, Aránguiz; Valdivia; Vargas, Sánchez
Argentina (4-3-3): Romero; Demichelis, Garay, Zabaleta, Otamendi; Biglia, Mascherano, Pastore; Di María, Messi, Agüero