A game that Chile came out to play the way it should be. All out attack, alternating between pacey runs from wide areas, and short passes down the middle.
The first 15 minutes, they had Argentina groggy, needing just a KO punch to take the lead. But there is where their problem was, they could not finish the job. Twice on those 15 minutes they had great chances, both went straight to the keeper to save them.
And then, the first real attack of the visiting side, Gago, plays an incredibly milimetric pass to Messi. Who receives the ball inside the box, brings it down, stops it, makes two defenders miss their footing and then placed it away from the keeper and inside the goal to make it 1-0.
Chile started again and tried to continue the same way, but minutes later, it was Di Maria who found Higuain wide on the right. Pipita brought it down with the right foot, accommodated it to his left, and unleashed a powerful shot to the top right angle of the goal making it 2-0.
Then the game changed. Chile looked deflated, kept trying, but their accuracy of moments ago, changed into disorderly attacks.
Yet, they still could have been 3-0 down, when Aguero hit the post in another full speed counter from Argentina.
The first half came and went, and I am sure that the home side, were unable to comprehend how was it that they were trailing by 2 goals after those 45 minutes.
The second half did not offer much to shout about, Argentina tried to kill the game, Chile created a few opportunities, and they even scored to make the final result a 2-1.
They should have done better, they created, they passed, they attacked, but they were not equipped to cope with the power Argentina has from the half way line up.
Mascherano had an incredible game, specially in the second half. Running, recovering, helping, distributing the ball. He was the best guy for the albiceleste. After a below standard performance a few days earlier against Uruguay, Gago recover the level he had been showing previously, and his partnership with Mascherano went back to be immaculate. His pass to Messi to score the first goal was sublime.
Di Maria, is great going forward, creates a lot of space, has the pace to scare defences, the vision to play the killer pass, but can not defend, and leaves miles of room on the left hand side for the opposition to find holes and get to the left back on a 2 to 1 basis, making it difficult to defend against.
The back 4 looked odd. Campagnaro on the right (he is a centre back) and Zabaleta on the left (has played there before, but prefers the right hand side), were very vulnerable and uneasy on their positions.
Fernandez did not have a good game, was found wanting a few times, and in my opinion he is not international level just yet.
The only one that played well and defended the way it should be done was Ezequiel Garay.
Sabella likes centre backs to cover all positions in the defence. Burdisso should be back on the frame soon, which will probably leave Zabaleta out of the staring eleven.
The manager tries to play the way Bilardo had the team of 86 playing.
Difference is that the world champions of then had Enrique and Olarticoechea as wing backs/wide midfielders, and both could support the back 3 (Cucciufo, Brown and Ruggeri) who were all centre backs.
It worked back then, because the WB/MF could defend as well as attack, but today’s generation do not have that luxury.
Even the return of Burdisso will not change things, as neither him, nor Rojo or campagnaro are used to go forward and come back.
In the meantime, the result was favourable once again, and the team keeps improving.
There is still much work to do, but the lines are starting to gel, and the players seem to know what is expected of them now.