In the first round of the group stage of Quartet D at the 2016 America's Cup, the finalists of the tournament came together. The match Argentina - Chile was perhaps the most anticipated at the group stage of the championship.
The Argentine national team before the start of the meeting was weakened by the absence of their captain and leader Lionel Messi. Another star foward of blue and white Sergio Aguero did not come out at the base either. However, the absence of strikers did not become a big problem for the two-time world championship triumphs.
Already in the second minute, after hitting his head, Niko Gaitan could hit the gate of the Chileans. Claudio Bravo was saved by the top goalpost. After this episode, there were no scoring chances in the game until the 30th minute, although the teams tried to quickly pass the center of the field and attack each other's goal. After half an hour, the Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez missed his scoring chance. His shot from the penalty area was reflected by Sergio Romero. In the 34th minute, the same Sanchez sent the ball into the top corner from the free kick, but the Argentine goalkeeper again coped with the blow.
The end of the first half remained with the Argentines, but the score on the scoreboard did not change - the attacks performed by the trio Di Maria, Higuain, Gaitan were too chaotic and unfinished.
The Chileans began the second half of the meeting actively, which was facilitated by several dangerous standard provisions. However, the score was opened by Angel Di Maria in the 51st minute. After a mistake made by Chile's midfielder Aranges in the center of the field, Banega intercepted the ball and gave a good pass to PSG player. Di Maria hit the near corner of the goal of Bravo.
At the 59th minute, Banega himself doubled the Argentinian lead. Claudio Bravo again missed a shot into the near corner, but the ball's flight path in this episode was influenced by the rebound from the thorns of Mauricio Isla's butts.
Gonzalo Higuain also had a great moment. At the 67th minute, the Napoli forward from close range could not accurately send the ball to the far corner - the goalkeeper helped out.
The Chileans were still able to play one goal at the very end of stoppage time. Fuenzalida, a few seconds before the end of the meeting, sent the ball into the goal with his head.
The final score of the match 2: 1 in favor of the Argentine national team leaves more preferable chances for the winners to advance from Group D to the stage of the quarterfinals from the first place.
