Chile and Peru, two teams with two titles in the competition, canceled each other out on Friday in their 2024 Copa America debut at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In the second meeting of the first round of Group A, the Chileans and Peruvians showed great will and determination, ensuring a tight game, but the attacks rarely had the art of overcoming the defense, in a game with few opportunities.
“Catedratic” Alexis Sanchez had the best chance in Chile and in the game, but missed it in the 16th minute, while Peruvian Gianluca Lapadula also shot poorly in the 57th minute, being in an excellent position.
With this tie – in a group in which, like the other three, only the top two advance to the quarters – Chile and Peru are jointly second, two points behind defending champion Argentina, which beat Canada 2-0 on Friday .
The Peruvians, champions in 1939 and 1975, have qualified through the group stage in their last 10 editions, last losing in 1995, while the Chileans, winners in 2015 and 2016, have qualified six times in a row since 2007.
In the second round, scheduled for Tuesday, Peru will face Canada in Kansas City and Chile will face Argentina in East Rutherford.
The first quarter of an hour was played wide open but Chile took control and had a golden opportunity to score in the 16th minute, but an isolated Alexis Sanchez fired a center shot from Davila’s left into the clouds.
The Inter Milan man, Chile’s leader in appearances (164) and goals (51), struck again in the 29th minute, while Peru only created danger with Miguel Araujo’s header in the 43rd minute from Pena’s free kick. who supported Claudio Bravo.
In the second half, the first opportunity belonged to Peru; in the 57th minute, Lapadula received the ball in an excellent position, in the “heart” of the penalty area, but shot very weakly.
In the 79th minute, after a corner, Claudio Bravo saved a seemingly harmless shot from Lapadula and then had to do his best to stop the rebound of Paolo Guerrero, a forty-year-old footballer who was kicked in by Uruguayan Jorge Fossati in the 71st.
In the final part, the team led by the Argentinean Ricardo Gareca, much more humble in the second half, still got scared again, in a new initiative by Alexis Sanchez, in the 87th minute, but the “zero” remained until the end.