First off, he missed an injury time sitter that would’ve won Argentina their first Copa America in 22 years.
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“To have won the Copa America here in Chile, with the people euphoric…”
The much-awaited final finished 0-0 after extra time, so, penalties were required to determine the victor of the steamy encounter.
Following their World Cup last defeat in 2014, he described failure at the ultimate hurdle as soon as once more as a ‘”torture”.
Despite the tension, the BBC stats revealed that Chile had dominated the game, holding 57 percent of possession and making 18 shots to Argentina’s eight.
Fourteen-time Copa America champion Argentina also had some chances in the first half, including a header at point-blank range by Sergio “Kun” Agüero that Chilean Claudio Bravo was able to deflect out of play.
Referring specifically to Barcelona’s star striker Messi, Sampaoli added: “The plan was to neutralise the most important Argentina player, who is the best player in the world”. It hurts because we believed that this was the chance to win something.
But he must have had a point, that Messi needed the right context to bring out the best in him for Argentina and his successors on the bench have continued with the quest without quite finding the key.
Argentina’s players meanwhile were left pondering another heartbreaking loss.
Chile players celebrate with the Copa America trophy during the medals presentation after they defeated Argentina in their Copa America 2015 final soccer match at the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile, July 4, 2015. “This is a karma that we need to live with”, Javier Mascherano said after the game. “We are just missing that little step to achieve something”. “Is it karma? I don’t know”.
After Arturo Vidal had scored Chile’s second, Higuaín fired his effort way over the crossbar.
“In terms of attacking volume, Chile were superior to Argentina”, he said.
Chile midfielder Charles Aranguiz was lucky to escape a yellow card for a rough challenge on Angel Di Maria, forcing the Mnchester United winger limp out of the contest in the 29th minute with Ezequiel Lavezzi coming in as replacement.
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The second half was less eventful than the first and chances became increasingly harder to come by for both teams.
