Copa America: Defending champions up for Chile reception

Host and Uruguay have both been battling their own problems in the tournament


Afp/news Desk June 23, 2015
La Celeste will have to find a way to tame the fiery La Roja in front of their home crowd if they are to defend the crown they won four years ago. PHOTO: AFP



After a slight lull in the action of the Copa America goal-fest during the final matches of the group stages, the knockout stage promises to once again crank up the heat.


Hosts Chile take on defending champions Uruguay, with both sides tackling vastly different problems ahead of their quarter-final clash on Wednesday.

With the likes of Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez and Juventus midfield star Arturo Vidal up front and Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo between the posts, La Roja will be fancying their chances of winning their first Copa America in 99 years, especially after impressing in the World Cup last year.

However, it has not been smooth sailing off the pitch for the hosts, with a divide between the fans and the players all too apparent. What started off as a superb campaign, with two wins in two, soon threatened to turn into a nightmare as Vidal was caught up in a drink-driving incident after he smashed his Ferrari.

Sanchez then warned his compatriot that he will have to work even harder to atone for his mistake but said that the team stands behind the midfielder. “I told him: ‘Arturo, you better bust your ass!’” said Sanchez. “It’s very hard what happened with him but as a group the least we can do is put up with it as a team. There has been indiscipline, we were wrong. But we are a family and we are there to support him.”

And Chile showed that on the pitch, responding to the controversy with a superb 5-0 win over Bolivia to ensure that they top Group A, though Vidal was unusually subdued before being taken off at half-time.

Uruguay, on the other hand, have struggled on the pitch as Bravo’s Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez continues to serve his ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

The Uruguayans are no strangers to facing the hosts at the Copa America, having done so in the quarter-final stage three times in the last five editions. “It happened to us in Venezuela, it happened to us in Argentina — and now it has happened with Chile,” said midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios. “But these games are the best ones. This is where the Copa starts for us.”

Shorn of Suarez’s commitment and inventiveness up front, Uruguay have struggled for goals as Paris Saint Germaine striker Edinson Cavani has fluffed his lines so far — with La Celeste managing just two goals in their three group games.

However, their defence continues to serve them well. With centre-back Diego Godin returning from suspension, Rios warned the hosts that there will be no repeat of their 5-0 win over Bolivia. “If they need spaces, then they will have to find another way of playing,” said Rios. “We work together very well and we close the gaps.”

The layer of smog

The streets in the Chilean capital of Santiago were strangely empty Monday, where air pollution has forced authorities to declare an environmental emergency in the middle of the Copa America.

No Copa America matches were scheduled for Santiago on Monday or Tuesday but most of the teams taking part in the tournament are training in the city, and the quarter-finals clash between the hosts and Uruguay is to be held there.

Organisers have already said they will not reschedule any matches because of air pollution.

Santiago, which sits in an enclosed valley, has had little rain to wash away the pollution, and unseasonably warm winter weather is exacerbating matters.

Sports medicine specialists say the smog could affect the performance of the high-octane footballers in Chile for the continental championship.

The Copa America runs through July 4, when Santiago hosts the final match, and is expected to draw around 750,000 fans.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th,  2015.

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