While Argentina faced off against Chile in Rio de Janeiro, the presence of Diego Maradona was felt in the match that could decide Group A despite it being the first one played. Argentina against Brazil is the one that makes all the headlines, but the South American rivalry that has defined the last six years of Copa América is Chile versus Argentina. These two know one another well and the narratives were already written.
Chile had a good plan for Argentina in open play. Clog the middle with as many bodies as possible and let Arturo Vidal, Erick Pulgar, and Charles Aránguiz do their disruptive thing. As Chile proved in the Copa América finals in 2015 and 2016 against Argentina, their midfield has just the right amount of skill to pair with their biting tackles and steel.
The past failures against Chile could have been ringing in Argentine heads, but every team in South America plays each other so often that it’s difficult to remember the most recent match-ups. There is no fear between teams, and Chile played with confidence. Both units were rather methodical in the build-ups, trusting that fouls and disruptions were the times to capitalize.
To the delight of Culers, it was Lionel Messi and Argentina who capitalized in the 33rd minute. Former Barcelona teammate Arturo Vidal looked on as an older Blaugrana teammate Claudio Bravo was helpless to stop Messi’s free kick. It was a perfect position for the left-footed magician and the second time in 11 days when Messi faced Bravo with a free kick from that kind of location. Bravo saved the prior one, but the slightly more central position brought a slightly new challenge. The Chilean keeper needed to be careful of Messi sneaking it underneath his own teammates to Bravo’s left while considering that Messi would love to curl it into the top right corner over the Chilean wall. Messi chose option two and put Argentina ahead.
This is Messi’s 10th major international tournament and he’s seen it all at this point. That said, VAR is still a bit new to the competition, and it introduced itself when Arturo Vidal was fouled inside the box in a second half that was more lively than the first. I would have understood if the penalty wasn’t given, but since it was, Arturo Vidal was taking it.
Vidal’s shot was well-stopped by Emiliano Martínez, but Eduardo Vargas headed in the rebound. The second half prior to that penalty had some life, but Chile bunkered down afterwards. Argentina outshot Chile 18 to 5 in the match, though the 5 to 4 shots on target are more telling of Argentina’s accuracy. They were the side playing for the winner, but misses by Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás González doomed them to a draw. The ten minute cameo for Sergio Agüero didn’t shift the balance of the match either.
The top four teams of each group will be moving on to the knockouts, so the 1-1 is a fine result for both teams. Argentina though, will feel like they missed out on the opportunity to show the rest of South America that they are ready to take the trophy.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
