Japan 0-4 Chile
Chile’s quest to win a third-straight Copa America title couldn’t have gone off to a better start. La Roja showed they are indeed among the top contenders in the tournament as they went out and thumped guest team Japan, 4-0.
Eduardo Vargas, who has a habit of raising his goalscoring game in this competition, was at it again as he delivered a brace. Meanwhile, Chile superstar Alexis Sanchez — who’s coming off a disastrous season with his club, Manchester United — scored for the first time in five months and also set up another goal.
Chile’s victory matched Uruguay’s 4-0 thumping of Ecuador for the biggest win thus far in the tournament.
The scoreline did not quite do justice to how well the Japanese played, though. They created a number of very good goalscoring opportunities, but the young Samurai simply lacked that cutting edge as poor finishing let them down on multiple occasions.
Highlights of the game
Despite being significant underdogs according to Copa America 2019 betting odds, the Japanese did not seem too intimidated by Chile. The young Asians played with confidence in the early going and were not afraid to attack the defending champions.
In fact, it was Japan who got the first decent chance of the match. Ayase Ueda won a free-kick just outside the penalty area after he was bowled over by Guillermo Maripan.
Up stepped 18-year-old — and new Real Madrid recruit — Takefusa Kubo to try his luck, but his left-footed strike flew well over Claudio Bravo’s goal.
The Japanese weren’t able to fashion many more clear-cut opportunities for the first half hour of the match, but neither did Chile.
Sanchez had his first real sight of goal on 35 minutes, but his effort from just outside the penalty area went just wide.
The champions finally found the breakthrough on 41 minutes. Midfielder Erick Pulgar soared above a couple of Japanese defenders to deliver a thumping header from a corner.
The Samurai Blue very nearly struck back at the stroke of half-time. After a beautiful through-ball by captain Gaku Shibasaki, Ueda was clear on goal and attempted to round Bravo. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish as his weak shot went wide.
Japan would rue that miss as Chile doubled their lead nine minutes into the second half through Vargas. There was a bit of fortune to their goal as Vargas’ shot deflected off a Japanese defender, which took the ball away from keeper Keisuke Osako.
Once again, the Japanese fashioned a great chance of their own minutes later, and again it was the combination of Shibasaki to Ueda. But despite being in acres of space right in front of goal, the 20-year-old failed to hold his nerve as he couldn’t even get his shot on target.
Kubo continued the trend of poor Japanese finishing. After impressively evading a couple of Chilean defenders, the “Japanese Messi” could only fire into the side netting as Bravo closed him down.
The Japanese squandered yet another glorious opportunity to score minutes later, with Ueda again the guilty party. After a great cross by substitute Hiroki Abe, the Japanese striker failed to guide the ball in from point-blank range.
Chile eventually showed their young opponents how to finish as they scored two goals in quick succession.
First, it was Sanchez, who scored with a fine diving header to seal the win. Vargas then got his second of the game as he coolly chipped the ball over the onrushing Japanese keeper from a considerable distance.
Key statistics
Eduardo Vargas has had quite an underwhelming club career, but he just continues to provide Copa America 2019 highlights every time he suits up for Chile.
With his two goals against Japan, Vargas has become the country’s all-time leading scorer at the Copa America with 12 goals. He’s also overtaken the great Marcelo Salas for second in Chile’s all-time goalscoring list with 38 goals and is four behind Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Chile’s impressive Copa America run continues. Since 2015, they have recorded 10 wins with one draw and one defeat. Although, two of those “wins” came via penalty shootouts against Argentina in the last two finals.
What’s next?
Chile’s next assignment in Group C will see them take on Ecuador. La Tricolor were also hammered 4-0 by Uruguay in their opening match, and the SBOBET odds of a shock win over the defending champions likely won’t be too great.
As for Japan, they face another difficult test against Uruguay and their dangerous strike partnership of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Hopefully for the Samurai Blue, they can sharpen their finishing in order to avoid another blowout defeat.
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