Chile Shed Romantic Ideals in Pursuit of Copa America Title Dream
For the hosts this tournament has been all about winning first continental trophy, meaning expediency and pragmatism have been paramount on way to final.
- Jonathan Wilson
- Updated: June 30, 2015 04:09 PM IST
When they dreamed of this moment, did they dream it this way? For Chile this Copa America has been all about winning a first trophy, about completing a quest that began when they took part in the first tournament in Buenos Aires 99 years ago. On home soil, with a fine, united squad all essentially fit and in form, this is the sort of chance that comes along extremely infrequently and, sure enough, with a 2-1 win over Peru , they have reached their first final since 1987.
But was this really how they wanted to get there?
A controversial red card for Peru's Carlos Zambrano in the 20th minute, the non-award of a card of any colour for Arturo Vidal when he shoved Zambrano in the face early on, an opening goal that was marginally offside: all of it contributed to an evening that felt disturbingly unsatisfying. (Practice Makes Perfect for Chile Hero Vargas)
Perhaps Chile's fans don't care, perhaps they will judge that silverware vindicates all else, but the sense is of them snatching with increasing desperation as the prize comes within reach.
For a long time the continent dismissed Chile as a side that, even when they had a good generation of players, could be relied upon to self-destruct in moments of crisis. That, at least, has dissipated; their response to conceding an own-goal equaliser was to go straight down the other end and retake the lead four minutes later, a response so immediate that there almost wasn't sufficient time with the scores level for it to be considered a test of character.
Progress, though, has come at a price. After Marcelo Bielsa took over in 2007 Chile became a favourite of the neutrals, noted for their attacking intentions and the intensity of their play, a radical departure from the safety-first stodginess of so many national teams. That they still suffered a sense of insecurity which meant they lost every time they faced Brazil added to their image as doomed romantics (they also lost against Venezuela in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Copa America but that was under Claudio Borghi, an Argentinian who was never as committed to bielsisme as Jorge Sampaoli, the man who replaced him).
They haven't played anybody good enough yet to confirm the sense of insecurity has gone but the idea that Chile represent some sort of noble ideal certainly is no more. Sampaoli has always been an irascible coach, forever barking at linesmen and referees, as his disciplinary record while at Universidad de Chile showed, but this tournament has demonstrated a level of expediency that removes the sheen from Chile. That's not to say they're any more Machiavellian than anybody else but it is a little disappointing to realise they're no different.
Sampaoli is a manager who suspended the midfielder Charles Ar~CHECK~nguiz for oversleeping yet when Vidal crashed his Ferrari on the way back from a casino while allegedly under the influence of alcohol he was allowed to remain with the squad as legal proceedings continue; winning the tournament overrides all else.
Equally, while Chile deserve credit for the way they kept attacking in the quarter-final against Uruguay, for maintaining their faith in the way they were playing (albeit with the addition of some attacking heft in the shape of the centre-forward Mauricio Pinilla, who came on for Eduardo Vargas), they ultimately prevailed because of Gonzalo Jara's provocation of Uruguay's Edinson Cavani , definitely with a prod of the finger between the forward's buttocks and, it's been claimed, by taunting him over his father's arrest in a drink-driving incident in which a motorcyclist was killed.
"Jara stained the exquisite image that the national team was leaving on the pitch in the Copa America," wrote the journalist Jose Miguelez in the daily La Tercera. "Today the world criticises the conduct of the hosts, the very team which with Sampaoli in charge has established as a message that of winning, but winning any old how."
Social media was rife with cries of conspiracy during the semi-final but that is probably to go too far. Vidal clearly should have received at least a yellow and perhaps a red for thrusting a palm into Zambrano's face. For Zambrano, though, it was harder to have sympathy. He could have been booked for the kick that provoked Vidal to raise his hand. When he was booked for complaining about an Alexis S~CHECK~nchez tumble it seemed harsh, but no more so than four of the yellows for dissent in Argentina's quarter-final against Colombia. The incident that led to him being dismissed was reckless, his follow-through from a clearance leading him to catch Ar~CHECK~nguiz in the back. A straight red was probably too much but nobody could really have complained at a second yellow.
While the first Vargas goal was a fraction offside he also had a legitimate goal ruled out for a narrow offside in the second; it's true the two don't quite cancel out, opening goals being of greater significance than seconds, but it helps dilute the howls of protest. The fact is that most hosts benefit from borderline decisions going their way. "I don't want to talk about refs any more, it's always something with them," said the Peru forward Paulo Guerrero. "Chile are at home, we have to recognise that."
Yet still there is a sense of details mounting up, of the idealistic lustre slowly fading from this Chile side. They are romantics no more but they might - at last - be winners.