Copa America Final Showdown: Argentina vs. Chile

Hosts Chile and Lionel Messi-led Argentina are set to face off in the 2015 Copa America final on Saturday July 4, 2015 in Santiago at 10pm GMT +3 . The 2015 FIFA world rankings place Argentina as 3rd but the team  will definitely be weary of hosts Chile ranked 19th.

Chile entered the finals hoping to become the first team since Colombia in 2001 to win the tournament as hosts. This is the third Copa America final for Chile, who have hosted the tournament seven times but have never won the premier South American competition.

They emerged as the winners of Group A, recording two wins (2-0 over Ecuador and 5-0 over Bolivia) and a single 3-3 tie against Mexico.

The La Roja then went into the knockout stage with a match against Uruguay which they won narrowly 1-0. Peru was up next in the semi-final and again Chile came out dominant after two goals from Eduardo Vargas gave them a 2-1 win.

This will be the third Copa America final in the past four tournaments for Argentina, who lost the 2004 and 2007 championships to Brazil. Argentina is looking to win their first international championship since 1993.

It will be the fifth Copa America final for Argentina who go into the match in  gfhhh high spirits after a 6-1 semi-final win over Paraguay on Tuesday. These six goals are the highest in a single game in this year’s tournament.

Argentina opened their semi- final score sheet when Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo’s scored against paraguay in the 15^th minute.

Javier Pastore struck into the bottom corner from 25 yards to make it 2-0 in the 37^th minute.  Paraguay’s consolation goal came when Lucas Barrios fired in a shot with his first touch of the ball after coming in for Santa Cruz.

Two minutes into the second half, Argentina took over the game yet again as Di Maria scored twice in six minutes before strikers Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain added their fifth and sixth as the Paraguayan defense was nowhere to be found.

Both teams go into the final backed by an impressive display in this year’s tournament.  Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas have proved to be one of the best attacking duos in this year’s tournament.

They already have a combined output of seven goals out of Chile’s tournament-leading thirteen. The Chileans will also look up to Arsenal’s striker Alexis Sanchez to step up and make his presence felt in the final.

However, Argentina has one of the most unstoppable forces in one Lionel Messi. In addition, a versatile and fast Argentine offense will cause chills among the Chileans.

Both defenses are stout as Chile has only allowed three goals in while Argentina has given up four so far the tournament.

The winner in this final game will have an automatic qualification spot for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia apart from being crowned South American Football Kings.