“Here they come, bursting on the counter attack, this might be their last of the match. Mascherano’s ball in for Di Maria, who bursts past Marcello, gets the cross in for Messiiiii……. and a beautiful overhead kick, into the back of the net, beating the helpless Diego Alves! And in the 95th minute, he’s snatched a winning goal, and Argentina, so late, lead Brazil 1-0……………
And there goes the final whistle, and Argentina beat Brazil, with who else but Lionel Messi, breaking Brazilian hearts, with an extraordinary bicycle kick in stoppage time, becoming Argentina’s all time leading goal scorer, to give Argentina the win.”
I would have loved this to be the final, but instead, it was a different one, Argentina vs Chile. The game was not the brightest of games, with each team getting a red card. In the end, penalties was the last straw, and of all the people in the world who could’ve missed a penalty, it had to be Lionel Messi. He and the whole of Argentina could control their emotions when Chile beat them for the second consecutive time in a Copa America final, triumphing 4-2 on penalties, to become two-time defending champions.
The Chileans played eye-catching football throughout the tournament, with the big man of the midfield, Arturo Vidal, creating the opportunities, and Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas, finishing off the chances. The produced some stunners, including the unexpected 7-0 thrashing of Mexico, and the dramatic 2-1 win over Bolivia, with Arturo Vidal converting the game winning penalty in the last of the extraordinary 15 minutes of second half extra-minute
About Copa Americá:
The Copa Americá, also known as the “Championship of the Americas”, is a tournament between all the nations in North, South, and Central America. It occurs every 4 years. Qualifying games are played prior to the tournament. After these qualifying games are finished , the top 16 move on to the actual tournament. The teams are split into four groups of four, with the top two in each group moving on to the knockout stage. It all comes down to the final and third place game.
Here are the final stats of the tournament:
Winner: Chile
Runner up: Argentina
Third Place: Colombia
Fourth Place: United States
Since this is the tournament’s 100th anniversary, this specific Copa America is called Copa America Centenario, meaning Copa America 100.
Some remarkable matches included:
Chile 2-1 Bolivia (as mentioned above)
Brazil 7-1 Haiti
I enjoyed the Copa America a lot, although I was a little upset when Chile beat Argentina in the final. The Copa website is www.ca2016.com
So, what do you think ?