Watching the press and the fans completely fall for Colombian manager Juan Carlos Osorio's methods and get the impression that they actually had a chance to reach the Copa America final this time around was pretty interesting. The coach, as if he was the Pied Piper, lured everyone with positive results in matches of a considerably low game level inside the North and Central America area. This illusion was the main reason why many believed that Chile was an easy rival, but they had it all wrong.
Chile is one of the world's most competitive national teams, and thinking that a team like Mexico would be able to defeat the current Copa America champions is just talking crazy. But despite the facts that presented in front of them, legions and legions of fans were convinced they would win this quarter final game no problem. When the right moment came, Osorio fell too short from what Chile was capable of doing and Mexico didn't even compete.
Throughout the 90 minutes of the match, we saw a Chile national team that completely outplayed a Mexican side with no clear ideas or initiative. After the game, all Osorio could do was apologize: "I want to ask for forgiveness from the Mexican people. It was an embarrassment. It was a very poor performance from us and I repeat: Many apologies to the Mexican people. Chile are ranked fifth in the world for good reason, but I repeat we had a horrible game today."
Photo credit: Conmebol