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The first half at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara California, was mostly dominated by Chile, Argentina without Messi lacked the order to reach the other side of the field with a controlled ball at their feet. Nicolas Gaitan's inclusion to substitute Messi wasn't enough, the Chilean team took good advantage of that and had way more chances than the players managed by Gerardo Martino. The best chance of the first half came from Alexis Sanchez's right foot, but goalkeeper Romero reacted quickly to his low potent attempt. We expected a better match for the second half, if Argentina wasn't able to score a goal soon, Messi was going to have to step inside the field with his back pains and all.
But this hope got shattered as people saw Messi get to the bench in sweat pants and comfortable sneakers before the start of the second half. It was almost impossible that we would see Messi in action today, but the hope remained. But it took the Argentine team only five minutes to put those doubts to rest, as Ever Banega stole the ball from Charles Aranguiz and served it to Angel Di Maria on a platter for the PSG star to finish with his left foot. The Argentine National team was getting their much expected revenge after last year's upset in Santiago.
Chile was fighting against time after Di Maria's goal, this result put things a little bit too difficult after Panama also won their match. They quickly attempted to get back in the game though, Romero found a volley that went straight to him with very little danger. But Argentina was looking very powerful on the counter attack, it was Banega who scored a very similar goal to Di Maria's eight minutes later, they just switched roles in the same play. Chile still attempted to come back to the game, but the Argentines were a well organized team with the experience of the two major previous tournaments on their shoulders.
Chile managed to pull one back at the very end with a Fuenzalida header during a set piece, but it was too late. With this result, Argentina will certainly rise their game level once that Messi gets fully recovered, it's safe to say that alongside Mexico, they are title contenders as it was expected.
Photo credit: Conmebol
