Argentina vs. Chile Copa America 2015 Final Predictions: Four Reasons Why Hosts Will Win Championship
Chile has faced numerous obstacles throughout its Copa America.
From issues within the locker room to complaints of conspiracy theories, the home ice enters the finally as the more polarizing team of the two competing for the trophy.
There remain reasons to believe that Chile will win however. Here are a few.
Home Field Advantage
The host nation has won the Copa America 18 times in the tournament's lengthy history. With the exception of Peru, which lifted the trophy twice, every champion has won the trophy at least once on its home turf.
Chile is not yet a champion and has hosted the tournament seven times including this year. The team almost seems due for a win, especially considering the players that comprise the squad.
Moreover, Chile has been utterly dominant at home, getting some questionable calls but finding ways to conjure up newfound strength whenever some sort of adversity kicks in.
Speaking of which...
Ability to overcome adversity on the pitch and off of it
The team struggled against Ecuador for most of the match and still found a way to win. Against Mexico, the side was not rattled at any point by falling behind and kept on finding ways to score. Even against Peru, Chile was not shaken by giving up a potentially goal that gave the opposition newfound hope.
That has been the situation for Chile on the pitch.
Off of it there have been more questionable manners that would have taken teams apart. Remember Diego Maradona's drug issues and how they led to the implosion of Argentina's 1994 World Cup campaign? Whether you agree or disagree (and most would do the latter), Chile's ability to rally around Arturo Vidal's poor decision making instead of condemning him, has united the side and turned it into a seemingly unstoppable force at this point.
Gonzalo Jara's negative tactics could have also shaken the side, but Chile still gave a business-like performance against Peru in the semifinal.
Offensive Prowess
Say what you will about Argentina's explosion against Paraguay, but Chile has been chugging along offensively the entire tournament, scoring a whopping 10 goals in the first three games alone in a more complicated group. In the knockout rounds, the offense has been quelled a bit, but that is no surprise given the "tight-checking" of Peru and Uruguay in their respective matches.
Chile has a fast-paced game that could put the weak Argentina defense off kilter. Despite its 6-1 win, few people recall the fact that Paraguay was shaking down Gerardo Martino's side in the opening 10 minutes of that game and could have scored the opener. Chile has better finishers than Paraguay and has been able to punish the smallest of mistakes from other sides.
The frenetic pace also forces other sides into fouling Chile incessantly to slow them down; that has already cost a number of teams red cards in this tournament, including Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. If Argentina is the least bit uncomfortable, the team could find itself losing a key player from constantly fouling Chilean stars.
Possession
The battle between these two sides could come down to which side possesses the ball better and thus prevents the other from getting any scoring chances.
Chile has dominated over 70 percent of possession in this tournament and has also proven to be the best defensive side in terms of shot prevention. Chile's 7.4 shots against per game are the fewest in the tournament thus far, with Argentina coming third with nine shots against per game.
Limiting Argentina is a tall order, but if any team can do it in this tournament, then Chile would be ones to do it.