When Chile saw an opening, they pounced. When their defense broke down, Claudio Bravo was there. When the rain stopped, they finished the job.
Just another meticulous performance for Chile in the Copa America Centenario.
Charles Aranguiz and Jose Pedro Feunzalida scored in the first half as defending champions Chile returned to the final of South America’s championship with a soggy 2-0 victory over Colombia on Wednesday night.
Photo: AP
“This is a winning team. They are winners... Before we play a tournament, they are convinced they are going to win,” Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi said.
Led by Bravo’s stellar effort in goal, Chile earned their fourth straight win since a 2-1 loss to top-ranked Argentina in their Group D opener. Next up is a rematch with La Albiceleste on Sunday night in New Jersey.
Chile also faced Lionel Messi and Argentina in last year’s championship, with La Roja winning 4-1 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 extra-time draw. Argentina were the last nation to repeat as Copa champions in consecutive years, accomplishing the feat in 1946 and 1947.
“We must respect, as we always have, our rivals and compete and try to win,” Pizzi said.
James Rodriguez and Colombia got off to a slow start and their push for a comeback was hampered by a strong line of thunderstorms that delayed the start of the second half by more than two hours, drenching the playing surface and forcing the players to tread carefully for the last part of the night at Soldier Field, home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
Colombia, who are to face the US in the third-placed game tomorrow night in Arizona, also had to play with 10 men after Carlos Sanchez received a second yellow card in the 57th minute.
“We made some mistakes and Chile was very effective, as they usually are,” Colombia coach Jose Nestor Pekerman said. “This is one of the keys to their win.”
The defending champions lost midfielder Pedro Pablo Hernandez when he departed in the first half with a knee injury following a collision.
Pizzi said he was hopeful about Hernandez playing in the final, but added that it was too early to be sure.
The familiar foes arrived at the semi-final coming off wildly different performances in the quarter-finals. While Colombia needed penalties to eliminate Peru after a 0-0 tie on Friday last week, Chile roared into the semi-finals with a 7-0 victory over Mexico that included five second-half goals.
Each nation picked up right where they left off.
Pekerman on Tuesday talked about his team’s inability to finish, and the same problem showed up again in Colombia’s first appearance in the Copa semi-finals since 2004. Roger Martinez’s drive was stopped by a diving Bravo midway through the first half and Bravo denied Sanchez with another lunging stop right before halftime.
Chile quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of a Colombia mistake and making the most of sharp play from Alexis Sanchez in his 100th appearance for his nation.
Moments after the pro-Colombia crowd of 55,423 whistled and jeered while Chile passed the ball around in their own half, a cross by Fuenzalida was inadvertently headed back into the middle by Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado. Aranguiz volleyed it past goalkeeper David Ospina for his first goal of the tournament in the seventh minute.
Then Alexis Sanchez cut inside to get open for a shot that bounced off the inside of Ospina’s right post and rolled to Fuenzalida for an easy tap-in 10 minutes into the game.
“We made mistakes and we paid for our mistakes in the beginning,” Pekerman said.
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