Copa America Centenario

i am kinda glad it's even again now tho even though it was hogwash.....maybe we can salvage a good half out of this

idk that one seemed a bit harsh? Minimal contact etc. Was Rojo on a yellow? Also did someone stamp on him in the aftermath?

no seemed like it was just a straight red

got ball first too

i'd be pissed if I dropped a couple hundies on this final and got this first half

Nah this is great. The pitch seems v small/crowded so a few sendings off are a) amusing and b) open up a bit of space for the 2nd half.

yeah but there was no flow at all in that half. if it sets up a fun second half finish I'll forgive it but the first Argentina - Chile match was much more fun even if it was Messi-less.

lol typical Alexi Lalas response

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phf4xvI9fpE

they shoulda held this final in Central Park

Lol

lol typical Alexi Lalas response

yup p much.

i suspect it's cos he's mad about yesterday's 3rd place match so he's glad this one has been a trainwreck so far

lol man that Gonzalo miss was hilarious

match sounds like it's reminiscent of this classic Footcelsior

god on replay that is one of the worst straight reds I've ever seen

did he maybe scream something anti-Semitic too

You're talking about Rojo?

i suspect it's cos he's mad about yesterday's 3rd place match so he's glad this one has been a trainwreck so far

it was pretty evenly matched through the end of the national anthem

usa should really have been on top at that stage no?

Serious Baldwin vibes from Pizzi

You'd think they'd stop lunging at Messi after he dived to get like 4 of them booked already

ahh this half has been much more fun.

KUN AGUERO

This refs kind of an asshole

That should have been a red

Incredible save Bravo

Managed to be busy and I haven't gotten to catch this, relying on twitter updates. Only the joint most important Chilean national team game in my 32 years of half-chilean life, no big deal :/

omfg what a save

Bravo is tremendous, Barcelona should play him every game.

Dope extra time so far

Alexis looked almost dead as he came off. Tough match, impressed they are keeping the tempo up

Diaz is gonna sneak back on with a comedy mustache

pretty great keeper play on both sides

Yea I can enjoy a 0-0 like this

Lots of tired passes now, would be surprised to see a goal before 120

Wouldn't

That ref is doing a great Joe Crocker impersonation

Ach well pens it is

ROMERO

Omg messi wtf

Congrats JiG!

Man I am gutted for Messi

Yes major grats

ugh gutted for messi too

Post-game Messi apparently said he's retiring from international play?

lost all four major international finals, he's fed up

I felt bad for Messi immediately following the game. Has been unable to bring success to Argentina and has just lost 3 major finals in two years with the country. Even taking into account his missed penalty last night in the shootout - which is a grave error for sure - he's been their best player in those 3 tournaments and often their best player in the finals they've lost. Despite this the Argentinean public have always been overly hostile to him, never really warming to him or accepting him, criticising him heavily for any real or perceived failures, referring to him as "the Catalan" etc. And he had talked about international retirement before, about 5 years ago due to this.

Still think retiring from the national team is the wrong call. Still, he has 2 years until the next WC, could always return.

Delighted with Chile obviously. Last year when they hosted the Copa America they were in great form, the Borghi era was a great success, had retained the good parts of the Bielsa era, but added some more defensive composure. With the home crowd it really seemed like the only time Chile could possibly hope to win the Copa America, and they did. Then the ANFP (national association of professional football) fell out with Borghi, then Pizzi came in, results and form were poor. Came into this tournament not looking that great, started with a defeat to Argentina, should have been eliminated against Bolivia - won with a very soft penalty in injury time and Bolivia subsequently blew a clear opportunity to equalize with the last kick of the ball. But then the dismantling of Mexico was basically peak Chile. And from what I saw of the highlights last night Argentina were the better team, but the grit and fight of Chile kept them alive.

This is the greatest generation of Chilean footballers, and thankfully it's a relatively young squad. Will be together for the next world cup and the next Copa America in 3 years time. Fantastic to go from basically being an irrelevance in South American football to winning the Copa America twice.

agh, and of course it was Sampaoli who had brought chile to their apotheosis, won the Copa America last year, and then was swiftly gotten rid of, the ANFP just likes to go through Bielsista managers at an alarming rate and it can be hard to keep up

sorry I missed this thread. been away from ilx for a few months.

i watched all the Chile games (and attended one) plus a bunch of others. thrilled for my Roja, gutted for Messi nonetheless (really, it's one thing to live in the shadow of that other #10, and another when that 10 is alive and surfaces to gargle his stomach acids at the worst possible times).

one thing that seems to have escaped notice from much of the post-Final press i've read (most of which is about the Argentina/Messi "curse" etc): the work of the Chilean midfield in the final game, and in particular Vidal. Monster game from Arturo.

cheers jim!