Chile, Argentina grapple with historic stakes ahead of Copa América final
SANTIAGO, Chile --
Messi. It always comes down to Lionel Messi. Some day, there will perhaps be a game in which the build-up isn’t dominated by discussions of Messi’s form or how to stop him. But it isn’t likely to come any time soon, and certainly not before Saturday’s Copa America final against Chile. As Santiago prepares for a meeting that will either end Chile’s 99-year wait for a first trophy or Argentina’s 22-year wait for a 15th Copa America, all the talk, as it has been for the past three weeks, is about Messi.
Before the semi-final, it was all about his drought -- he had not scored from open play for Argentina for 828 minutes. After the semi-final, that drought has been extended to 918 minutes, but nobody seems to care. Messi had a part in all six goals Argentina scored in that game; for him to score as well might seem indecently flash. He is, said Sergio Aguero, “very calm.” Messi’s irritation, which surfaced after the Colombia game at his own failure to score, has been replaced by satisfaction after a supreme performance against Paraguay.
“Stopping Messi is not easy,” said his Barcelona teammate, the Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. “Seeing his career and what he’s done in his career… but our strength is the unit. Every component of our team will try to perform his role, trying to neutralise Leo... but not only him, his companions are world-class. We have to worry about all of Argentina and not just Leo.”
Messi isn’t the only teammate Bravo will come up against: there is also Javier Mascherano, the midfielder who often seems to function as the captain even if it’s Messi who wears the armband. “Javier gives a lot of character to the team,” Bravo said. “He’s the heart.”
Chile’s training this week has suggested a specific plan to combat Messi. Jose Rojas came into central defense to replace the suspended Gonzalo Jara for the semi-final win over Peru, but after an uncertain display, it seems he will be left out for the Osasuna midfielder Francisco Silva, who will be used as a man-marker on Messi. That decision, in turn, will mean Marcelo Diaz dropping back from the rear of midfield to operate as a libero in what will effectively be a back three, a formation Jorge Sampaoli, the coach, has often favoured against better sides.
Those adjustments relieve some of the pressure at left back, a position in which Chile have struggled in this tournament, using three different players in the role. With neither Eugenio Mena nor Miiko Albornoz really impressing, the use of a third central defender liberates Sampaoli to use his most attacking option, Jean Beausejour, on the left. The extra impetus on the left means Charles Aranguiz and Arturo Vidal will sit deep in midfield with Jorge Valdivia, who often misses out when Sampaoli switches to a back three, but who has been in superb form in the tournament, retaining his place as an attacking central midfielder behind a front two of Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas.
Finals are always fraught with visions of posterity, but this one, more than most, is being played with an awareness of historical context. For Argentina, it’s about a great generation of attacking talent (featuring half a dozen of the players who won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005) at last winning a senior trophy and ending a drought that stretches back 22 years. For Chile, this is about winning a first trophy 99 years after it took part in the inaugural Copa America.
“History,” Bravo said, reflecting on the fact that Chile has only even beaten Argentina once in a competitive game, “tells us we have never been favourites, but our energy and enthusiasm doesn’t depend on whether we are favourites. We’re not playing to be the best team in history. We’re playing to give a title to Chile, and where better than at home?”
Yet there’s a sense that Argentina is the more relaxed side heading into the final. Their training ground is a noticeably happier place now than it was in the first week of the tournament. It may, of course, be that the semi-final win over Paraguay comes to be seen as one of the great false dawns, but at the moment, it appears that the penalty shoot-out win over Colombia was a watershed, the moment at which this team finally began to believe.
“We have to throw all the meat on the barbecue,” said Rojas. “Argentina is coming off the World Cup final, but we’re at home so we’ll have something to say. Nothing is impossible and what will be, will be, whether we are champions or not. There is history, but it’s time that we write our own.”
