Chile's golden generation in search of a third CONMEBOL Copa America title
2021-06-12
The highly respected three will once again be key to Chile as they look to retain the CONMEBOL Copa America in 2021. Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas have all won the competition twice and will look to shock their rivals once again with a resurgent performance.
All three played a key role in Chile’s first ever South American title as the side beat Argentina in 2015 on penalties. Vargas, now of Atletico Mineiro in Brazil, finished top scorer in that edition of the tournament alongside Peru’s Paolo Guerrero with both scoring 4 goals.
In 2016 Chile repeated the triumph, once again beating Argentina on penalties. Vargas once again finished top scorer in the competition while Alexis Sanchez was named player of the tournament and Arturo Vidal was at the heart of all of their best work, bringing energy and quality to the middle of the field.
Both Sanchez and Vidal, now teammates at Inter Milan, were involved in Chile’s last 2 competitive games with a 2-0 win against Peru and a 2-1 loss to Venezuela in 2022 World Cup qualifying.
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Inconsistent form in World Cup qualifying means Chile currently sit in sixth place and despite some positive performances at the 2019 Copa America, they were ultimately eliminated in comprehensive fashion by Peru with a 3-0 semi final defeat. Colombian manager Reinaldo Rueda left in early 2021 with Uruguayan Martín Lasarte taking charge.
Lasarte will face Argentina on 14 June, at Nilton Santos Stadium, in Rio, in their opener before meeting Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay in the Group A.