Copa America Final Tactical Review

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This summer’s Copa America final pit the two best offenses in South America against one another. By all rights it should have been a shoot out. Instead, fans were given a nervy affair that showed more caution than flair. The game finished 0-0 after 120 minutes and Chile won their first ever Copa America on penalty kicks.

Our preview for this matchup predicted a Chile win by the scoreline of 3-2. Argentina’s defense and at-times stuttering offense, it was thought, would be unable to cope with the raw intensity and pressing of the tournament hosts. Even if the ultimate victory was correctly predicted, the details and overall themes of the match certainly were not.

SportsMatrix provides us with a great summary of the details of the game.

It’s clear that if there was to be a break in the game, it was always going to be Chile. They bested Argentina in both quantity and quality of shots throughout the game. Even if Argentina were able to muster some attacks, they mostly stopped before they ever became a threat. That was thanks to the truly impervious nature of Chile’s midfield. The trio of Marcelo Díaz, Charles Aránguiz, and Arturo Vidal were outstanding in each phase of play. They crowded out Biglia and Mascherano’s attempts to find Messi as the Barcelona forward dropped deep, and they rushed forward in attack whenever they reclaimed possession.

This game might have been the highest expression of Chile’s high-press philosophy that they’ve yet achieved, at least in midfield and defense. It was in attack where they faltered. Alexis Sánchez and Eduardo Vargas ran the wide routes but frequently found their paths into the center of the pitch blocked off by an Argentine defense especially eager to drop back when not in possession.

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Playmaker Jorge Valdivia made some admirable attempts to find an angle into Argentina’s 18 yard box, but his efforts were thwarted time and time again. Chile had the shortest team average height in the tournament, a weakness that Argentina were eager to exploit. Argentina’s centre-back pairing, Martín Demichelis and Nicolás Otamendi, are both taller than Chile’s tallest outfield player and that advantage was more than evident. Balls over the top were easily won and deflected back out of danger. Combined with the excellent fullback play of Marco Rojo, Argentina’s previously vulnerable defense looked impenetrable.

On the other end of the pitch, Messi and company looked to have reverted to the same quagmire they experienced for much of the tournament prior to their 6-1 semifinal victory over Paraguay. Their dominant performance there seemed to suggest they had found some kind of rhythm, but here again Chile were able to easily nullify all of Argentina’s accumulated talent. Díaz and the centre-backs were eager to challenge runs and passes from deep and never once seemed daunted by Messi dropping into the playmaker role.

In the end, it was a holistic effort from Chile, with the midfield capably supporting the defense and vice versa. Argentina’s surprising defensive turn doesn’t entirely excuse Chile’s impotency up front, but it should be a feather in Martino and the defense’s hat that they kept it scoreless despite the barrage of shots.

If the 120 minutes of play were proof that 0-0 draws don’t have to be boring, the penalty kicks that followed were proof that not all PKs are dramatic. After Messi’s opening success, Argentina failed to converted either of their next two penalties. Chile won easily 4-1.

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It was an anticlimatic end to what had been a tense match that threatened to overflow at any minute. As the Chileans in the stands cheered and wept, the Argentina players were visibly deflated. One by one they accepted their runners-up medals and immediately removed them. They were second best for the second major tournament in a row, and once again Messi’s legacy seems inexplicably jeopardized by his failure to win any international trophies for Argentina.

Chile’s triumph cannot be undersold though. They had an easier time of it this tournament than Argentina did, but they nonetheless played with a passion and intensity that made it seem like they were always set to win it all. This was as deserved a win as we could have hoped for.

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