Argentina ran out 3-1 winners against Chile in a game that exploded into life midway through the second half with four goals in fifteen minutes. Regretfully, this was only the first time I got to watch Chile in this competition. Their refreshing and enjoyable performances under Marcelo Bielsa at South Africa 2010 made their next crop of players an intriguing prospect. However I was slightly underwhelmed on this occasion.
Argentina had been underwhelming in their opening games despite picking up victories but tonight saw them improve somewhat on previous performances. However, it was not until the last ten minutes of the first half that they displayed positive signs of improvement. Chile dominated for much of the first half and really should have gone ahead through José Silva after some good work from Lorenzo Reyes.
After one or two more good moves from Chile, Argentina responded with some efforts of their own during the last ten minutes of the half. Facundo Ferreyra cut in nicely from the left, beat one defender, took the ball away from another but shot wide. He had also come close with an effort from outside the box after five minutes. The closest either side came to scoring in the first half was from an Argentina corner. Héctor Cardozo delivered a good ball which Juan Iturbe met at the near post but sent narrowly wide.
The first goal game on 57 minutes and was scored by Facundo Ferreyra. Claudio Mosca crossed a free kick into the area from which centre-back Leonel Galeano hit the cross bar. Ferreyra scored the rebound and went on to double his tally ten minutes later in the form of a good solo goal. After Luis Casanova was tackled in a dangerous area the ball found Ferreyra; he beat one defender and then beat the ‘keeper to his left while under pressure.
Barely a minute later Chile were back in it. A really nice move was tapped in by Alejandro Márquez and assisted by substitute Yashir Pinto who controlled the ball nicely before playing a good ball across the goal for Márquez. Game on? Not so much… After four minutes, Claudio Mosca inadvertently restored Argentina’s two-goal advantage. A great effort from Michael Hoyos came back off the post and resulted in a brief scramble in Chile’s penalty area. An attempted clearance hit Mosca in the face and went in.
Argentina made a few changes for this game leaving key players Michael Hoyos and Rogelio Funes Mori on the bench to keep them fresh for the latter stages. However this was one of their better performance to date in the competition and they will hope to build upon it further with a full-strength line up. Chile played well in the first half but failed to create much after falling behind and defended poorly which ultimately cost them.
Notable performances / players to watch next time
Chile
Diego González (O’Higgins): Not a great performance overall, but attempted a couple of long-range shots (one ridiculously audacious from well inside his own half) and was not too far away with either. Perhaps worth keeping half an eye on in next few games.
Yashir Pinto (Concepción): Only played the last 25 minutes from the bench so did not have enough time to properly assert himself on the game. However he did very well to assist Márquez’s goal.
Argentina
Facundo Ferreyra (Banfield): Ferreyra was man of the match, showed good skill for his second goal and regularly caused Chile’s defence problems.
Michael Hoyos (Estudiantes): Only given 19 minutes but he absolutely made the most of it. Created the scramble for the third goal and impressed majorly on 87 minutes when he evaded Salgado with great skill before attempting a Maradona-style turn and winning a free kick in the process.
Esteban Andrada (Lanús): Another solid performance from the goalkeeper who was not at fault for the goal and made several good saves.
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