Chile have never beaten Argentina in open play in 27 Copa America meetings in 100 years yet have twice in 12 months dashed the hopes of Lionel Messi's team of lifting a major trophy.
A second successive victory on penalties in the final against their trans-Andean rivals, this time in the centenary tournament in the United States on Sunday, has cemented Chile's status as one of the world's top teams.
A further irony is that the revolution that has transformed the team is the work of Argentine coaches starting with the visionary appointment in 2007 of Marcelo Bielsa, who has earned cult status in Chile.
"(Chile) have become audacious in the way they impose their game on any field, against any adversary," Diego Latorre, who was in the Argentina squad that won the Copa America in Chile in 1991, said on Saturday.
"This was unheard of in previous Chile teams prior to the Marcelo Bielsa era," he wrote in his column in the Argentine daily La Nacion.
Argentina, boasting one of the world's top players in Messi and ranked number one in the world, were expected to avenge last year's loss to Chile in Santiago having already beaten them twice this year.
Messi has now lost four major finals with Argentina, three in the last two years including the 2014 World Cup decider against Germany in Rio de Janeiro, leaving them still looking for their first major trophy since 1993.
He often looked cut off from his team at a packed Metlife in East Rutherford, New Jersey and cut a dejected figure at the end after his penalty miss and amid Chile's victory celebrations.
Bielsa, who was Argentina coach from 1999 to 2004, revolutionised Chile's training methods and tactics and led them to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after being absent from the tournament since 1998.
He and successor Jorge Sampaoli were instrumental in developing midfielder Arturo Vidal and forward Alexis Sanchez as world class players while Claudio Bravo has proved a top notch goalkeeper.
Sampaoli improved his mentor Bielsa's work on a high pressing game, steered Chile to the round of 16 in Brazil and masterminded their first ever Copa America success at home a year ago.
Argentina had never lost a competitive match to Chile until 2008 and had beaten the team now coached by Juan Antonio Pizzi twice in the last three months -- in a World Cup qualifier in Santiago in March and their opening group game of this tournament in Santa Clara three weeks ago, both times 2-1.
Chile upset favourites Argentina with a a penalty shootout victory in the Copa America final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday to retain their title in the world's oldest continental soccer competition.
With the dynamic Artur Vidal back after suspension, Chile earned themselves bragging rights as South America's dominant team as they beat heavyweights Argentina on penalties for a second straight year in the tournament decider.
The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 after 90 minutes and also after another half an hour of extra time in a match where both teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half.
Argentina: Romero, Mercado, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Rojo, Biglia, Mascherano, Banega (Lamela 111), Messi, Higuain (Aguero 69), Di Maria (Kranevitter 57).
Subs Not Used: Guzman, Maidana, Roncaglia, Fernandez, Cuesta, Gaitan, Pastore, Andujar.
Sent Off: Rojo (43).
Booked: Mascherano, Messi, Kranevitter .
Chile: Bravo, Isla, Medel, Jara, Beausejour, Vidal, Diaz, Aranguiz, Fuenzalida (Puch 80), Vargas (Castillo 109), Sanchez (Silva 103).
Subs Not Used: Toselli, Roco, Pinilla, Hernandez, Pulgar, Gonzalez, Orellana, Herrera.
Sent Off: Diaz (29).
Booked: Diaz, Vidal, Beausejour, Aranguiz.
Chile win 4-2 on penalties
Att: 82,026
Ref: Heber Roberto Lopes (Braz
Argentina have gone 23 years without a trophy and this was Messi's best chance of doing it. Perhaps his last chance, as the star announced his international retirement after the game.
They have now lost finals three years running. In the 2014 World Cup, against Germany, it was unfortunate. In the 2015 Copa America against Chile, it was painful. And this? Messi must believe it is some kind of curse.
Chile, meanwhile, who waited 99 years to win a Copa America, lifted the trophy in Santiago and now have done it again in New Jersey, in the special 100th year edition of the tournament. This is their golden generation and they are delivering.
Argentina coach Tata Martino was able to bring back Angel di Maria after injury for the final, replacing Ezequiel Lavezzi who suffered the same fate during the semi-final win over the USA, while Lucas Biglia stepped in for another casualty from that game, Augusto Fernandez.
It was the same 4-3-3 as usual, while Chile lined up in the same way, picking their strongest team, with Arturo Vidal back from suspension and Marcelo Diaz fit to start. He didn't last long, however.
Referee Heber Lopes made himself the star of the show in the first half, showing two red cards which he could have held back on.
Diaz was fairly booked for scything down Messi when the forward made his first real move of the game, starting a surging run. Chile sensed danger and Diaz made himself the man to stop it.
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi had stated that his team needed to come up with a plan to halt the Barcelona man in his tracks and hinted that underhand methods may come into the equation.
What he hadn't banked on was an overzealous official. Diaz obstructed Messi in the 29th minute, a foul, certainly, but a harsh yellow for just his second offence. For a moment it seemed Lopes had forgotten he booked him in the first half, even though the cards were just 12 minutes apart, but out came the red card and Chilean supporters raged.
But things were levelled up on that front just before half-time. Marcos Rojo took out Vidal with a sliding challenge from behind. It was a yellow card offence but he saw red. Ten men each.
Sanchez posted this photograph to Instagram after the game, alongside the caption: 'I am speechless. Just thank my team-mates and all the people who supported us now Chileans enjoy..
Chile defender Marcelo Diaz was booked for a foul on Argentina's Lionel Messi in the 16th minute on Sunday night
Argentina defender Marcos Rojo was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Vidal just before half-time
Referee Heber Lopes shows red card to Diaz after he received a second booking for a foul on Messi
Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when he lifted the ball over Claudio Bravo
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT
Vidal (missed) 0-0 Messi (missed)
Castillo (scored) 1-1 Mascherano (scored)
Aranguiz (scored) 2-2 Aguero (scored)
Beausejour (scored) 3-2 Biglia (missed)
Silva (scored) 4-2
As far as chances went, there was only one clear opportunity and Gonzalo Higuain bottled it.
He is often blamed for his mistakes in front of goal in the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America finals, and this was the hat-trick.
When Gary Medel stuttered on the ball in front of his own box, he robbed the Chilean and headed towards goal. His run towards the penalty area wasn't a confident one and his limp, dinked effort evaded Claudio Bravo but also the far post.
Gary Medel came flying back and ended up crashing into his own post, punishment for his mistake, but Higuain's profligacy prevented him from suffering an even more painful one.
Messi's attacking efforts were limited to one free-kick from over 30 yards out, saved by his club team-mate Claudio Bravo, and a dive in the penalty area for which he was booked. He doesn't often go to ground lightly, and the pressure of the occasion was clearly telling on him and his team-mates.
Messi goes down in the box after flicking the ball past a Chile defender during an attack in the first half
The Argentina talisman was booked by referee Heber Lopes following his tumble in the box in the first half
Chile, having won the Copa America in 2015, were calm, soaking up Argentina pressure and trying to spring counter-attacks. Martino's men, like the coach himself in his pre-match press conference, seemed worried.
Ever Banega had lashed a shot inches wide within half-a-minute of the game kicking off and it seemed like Argentina were taking the bull by the horns, but they soon settled into a more cautious style of attacking.
When Martino took a furious Di Maria off for Matias Kranevitter early in the second half it hinted at what type of game this was going to become.
Like last year's final, it ended up fragmented, cautious, an ordeal. Few chances developed in the second half, with substitute Sergio Aguero blazing two of them over the crossbar.
Messi tried his best to make a difference, but short of crossing it to himself to finish, there was little he could do.
A run from his own half ended in an effort blazed wide of the top left corner as the clock ticked down in five minutes of stoppage time.
Extra-time was upon us and the game began to open up again. Top scorer Vargas saw a header well saved by Romero, but should have scored after a neat cross from Edson Puch, while Aguero had a nodded effort of his own tipped over the crossbar by Bravo.
Although Argentina finished the stronger, they didn't have enough in the tank to force the ball past Bravo and it ended up in a shoot-out again. And again, they were shot down.
'If you start thinking over the future today, especially at a time like this, it's tough, it's overbearing,' said Martino, of Messi's dejection, before he knew the player was going to quit.
'But so many times, athletes are able to raise themselves back up. They've raised themselves up before, and I'm sure they'll do it again.'
With stories circling over other players considering joining Messi in leaving the side, Argentina's future could be heading down a rocky road. Reaching three finals in three years is a fine accomplishment. Losing them all is not. But if several stars quit the side, Argentina would be lucky to get that far in the near future again.
Summary
June 27 (Gracenote) - Summary from the Copa America Final match on Sunday Argentina 0 Red Card: Marcos Rojo 43 Chile 0 Red Card: Marcelo Diaz 28 Halftime: 0-0;Attendance: 82,026 Penalty Shootout: 2-4 - - -
A second successive victory on penalties in the final against their trans-Andean rivals, this time in the centenary tournament in the United States on Sunday, has cemented Chile's status as one of the world's top teams.
A further irony is that the revolution that has transformed the team is the work of Argentine coaches starting with the visionary appointment in 2007 of Marcelo Bielsa, who has earned cult status in Chile.
"(Chile) have become audacious in the way they impose their game on any field, against any adversary," Diego Latorre, who was in the Argentina squad that won the Copa America in Chile in 1991, said on Saturday.
"This was unheard of in previous Chile teams prior to the Marcelo Bielsa era," he wrote in his column in the Argentine daily La Nacion.
Argentina, boasting one of the world's top players in Messi and ranked number one in the world, were expected to avenge last year's loss to Chile in Santiago having already beaten them twice this year.
Messi has now lost four major finals with Argentina, three in the last two years including the 2014 World Cup decider against Germany in Rio de Janeiro, leaving them still looking for their first major trophy since 1993.
He often looked cut off from his team at a packed Metlife in East Rutherford, New Jersey and cut a dejected figure at the end after his penalty miss and amid Chile's victory celebrations.
Bielsa, who was Argentina coach from 1999 to 2004, revolutionised Chile's training methods and tactics and led them to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after being absent from the tournament since 1998.
He and successor Jorge Sampaoli were instrumental in developing midfielder Arturo Vidal and forward Alexis Sanchez as world class players while Claudio Bravo has proved a top notch goalkeeper.
Sampaoli improved his mentor Bielsa's work on a high pressing game, steered Chile to the round of 16 in Brazil and masterminded their first ever Copa America success at home a year ago.
Argentina had never lost a competitive match to Chile until 2008 and had beaten the team now coached by Juan Antonio Pizzi twice in the last three months -- in a World Cup qualifier in Santiago in March and their opening group game of this tournament in Santa Clara three weeks ago, both times 2-1.
Chile upset favourites Argentina with a a penalty shootout victory in the Copa America final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday to retain their title in the world's oldest continental soccer competition.
With the dynamic Artur Vidal back after suspension, Chile earned themselves bragging rights as South America's dominant team as they beat heavyweights Argentina on penalties for a second straight year in the tournament decider.
The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 after 90 minutes and also after another half an hour of extra time in a match where both teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half.
Argentina: Romero, Mercado, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Rojo, Biglia, Mascherano, Banega (Lamela 111), Messi, Higuain (Aguero 69), Di Maria (Kranevitter 57).
Subs Not Used: Guzman, Maidana, Roncaglia, Fernandez, Cuesta, Gaitan, Pastore, Andujar.
Sent Off: Rojo (43).
Booked: Mascherano, Messi, Kranevitter .
Chile: Bravo, Isla, Medel, Jara, Beausejour, Vidal, Diaz, Aranguiz, Fuenzalida (Puch 80), Vargas (Castillo 109), Sanchez (Silva 103).
Subs Not Used: Toselli, Roco, Pinilla, Hernandez, Pulgar, Gonzalez, Orellana, Herrera.
Sent Off: Diaz (29).
Booked: Diaz, Vidal, Beausejour, Aranguiz.
Chile win 4-2 on penalties
Att: 82,026
Ref: Heber Roberto Lopes (Braz
Argentina have gone 23 years without a trophy and this was Messi's best chance of doing it. Perhaps his last chance, as the star announced his international retirement after the game.
They have now lost finals three years running. In the 2014 World Cup, against Germany, it was unfortunate. In the 2015 Copa America against Chile, it was painful. And this? Messi must believe it is some kind of curse.
Chile, meanwhile, who waited 99 years to win a Copa America, lifted the trophy in Santiago and now have done it again in New Jersey, in the special 100th year edition of the tournament. This is their golden generation and they are delivering.
Argentina coach Tata Martino was able to bring back Angel di Maria after injury for the final, replacing Ezequiel Lavezzi who suffered the same fate during the semi-final win over the USA, while Lucas Biglia stepped in for another casualty from that game, Augusto Fernandez.
It was the same 4-3-3 as usual, while Chile lined up in the same way, picking their strongest team, with Arturo Vidal back from suspension and Marcelo Diaz fit to start. He didn't last long, however.
Referee Heber Lopes made himself the star of the show in the first half, showing two red cards which he could have held back on.
Diaz was fairly booked for scything down Messi when the forward made his first real move of the game, starting a surging run. Chile sensed danger and Diaz made himself the man to stop it.
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi had stated that his team needed to come up with a plan to halt the Barcelona man in his tracks and hinted that underhand methods may come into the equation.
What he hadn't banked on was an overzealous official. Diaz obstructed Messi in the 29th minute, a foul, certainly, but a harsh yellow for just his second offence. For a moment it seemed Lopes had forgotten he booked him in the first half, even though the cards were just 12 minutes apart, but out came the red card and Chilean supporters raged.
But things were levelled up on that front just before half-time. Marcos Rojo took out Vidal with a sliding challenge from behind. It was a yellow card offence but he saw red. Ten men each.
Sanchez posted this photograph to Instagram after the game, alongside the caption: 'I am speechless. Just thank my team-mates and all the people who supported us now Chileans enjoy..
Chile defender Marcelo Diaz was booked for a foul on Argentina's Lionel Messi in the 16th minute on Sunday night
Argentina defender Marcos Rojo was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Vidal just before half-time
Referee Heber Lopes shows red card to Diaz after he received a second booking for a foul on Messi
Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when he lifted the ball over Claudio Bravo
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT
Vidal (missed) 0-0 Messi (missed)
Castillo (scored) 1-1 Mascherano (scored)
Aranguiz (scored) 2-2 Aguero (scored)
Beausejour (scored) 3-2 Biglia (missed)
Silva (scored) 4-2
As far as chances went, there was only one clear opportunity and Gonzalo Higuain bottled it.
He is often blamed for his mistakes in front of goal in the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America finals, and this was the hat-trick.
When Gary Medel stuttered on the ball in front of his own box, he robbed the Chilean and headed towards goal. His run towards the penalty area wasn't a confident one and his limp, dinked effort evaded Claudio Bravo but also the far post.
Gary Medel came flying back and ended up crashing into his own post, punishment for his mistake, but Higuain's profligacy prevented him from suffering an even more painful one.
Messi's attacking efforts were limited to one free-kick from over 30 yards out, saved by his club team-mate Claudio Bravo, and a dive in the penalty area for which he was booked. He doesn't often go to ground lightly, and the pressure of the occasion was clearly telling on him and his team-mates.
Messi goes down in the box after flicking the ball past a Chile defender during an attack in the first half
The Argentina talisman was booked by referee Heber Lopes following his tumble in the box in the first half
Chile, having won the Copa America in 2015, were calm, soaking up Argentina pressure and trying to spring counter-attacks. Martino's men, like the coach himself in his pre-match press conference, seemed worried.
Ever Banega had lashed a shot inches wide within half-a-minute of the game kicking off and it seemed like Argentina were taking the bull by the horns, but they soon settled into a more cautious style of attacking.
When Martino took a furious Di Maria off for Matias Kranevitter early in the second half it hinted at what type of game this was going to become.
Like last year's final, it ended up fragmented, cautious, an ordeal. Few chances developed in the second half, with substitute Sergio Aguero blazing two of them over the crossbar.
Messi tried his best to make a difference, but short of crossing it to himself to finish, there was little he could do.
A run from his own half ended in an effort blazed wide of the top left corner as the clock ticked down in five minutes of stoppage time.
Extra-time was upon us and the game began to open up again. Top scorer Vargas saw a header well saved by Romero, but should have scored after a neat cross from Edson Puch, while Aguero had a nodded effort of his own tipped over the crossbar by Bravo.
Although Argentina finished the stronger, they didn't have enough in the tank to force the ball past Bravo and it ended up in a shoot-out again. And again, they were shot down.
'If you start thinking over the future today, especially at a time like this, it's tough, it's overbearing,' said Martino, of Messi's dejection, before he knew the player was going to quit.
'But so many times, athletes are able to raise themselves back up. They've raised themselves up before, and I'm sure they'll do it again.'
With stories circling over other players considering joining Messi in leaving the side, Argentina's future could be heading down a rocky road. Reaching three finals in three years is a fine accomplishment. Losing them all is not. But if several stars quit the side, Argentina would be lucky to get that far in the near future again.
Summary
June 27 (Gracenote) - Summary from the Copa America Final match on Sunday Argentina 0 Red Card: Marcos Rojo 43 Chile 0 Red Card: Marcelo Diaz 28 Halftime: 0-0;Attendance: 82,026 Penalty Shootout: 2-4 - - -
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