Argentina’s primary reaction after beating Paraguay in the semi-final of the Copa America on Tuesday seemed to be relief.
Not relief at going through, although given the way they wobbled as Paraguay came back into the game after half time, there must have been plenty of that.
Relief, rather, at the forward line clicking at last and Lionel Messi, finally, producing one of his greatest performances in a major tournament game for the national side.
The theory runs that the penalty shootout victory over Colombia in the quarter-final was critical for self-belief.
In that game, there were signs of fluidity beginning to come but, thanks to poor finishing, the woodwork and David Ospina, Argentina could not score.
Dragging themselves through the penalty shootout made them believe and the result was a 6-1 victory against Paraguay that, despite some shaky defending, touched the heights of attacking brilliance that had long been hoped for from this side.
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Messi, naturally, was central to that. He has gone 918 minutes with Argentina without scoring from open play and, before the Paraguay game, it seemed his inability to score was beginning to irritate him.
By full time in that match, the statistic seemed laughably irrelevant.
Ruben Gerardo Grighini, who played with Messi in the youth team at Newell’s Old Boys before he moved to Barcelona, has spoken of him “getting the face on” if something annoyed him and then destroying sides single-handed.
That was what happened against Paraguay. It was almost as though Messi had set himself the task of dominating a game without scoring, setting up three goals directly and having a part in the other three as Argentina at last played with the sort of attacking zest their forward line suggests they should.
The issue now is to convert that into Argentina’s first trophy since 1993, a wait that feels all the longer because in that time they have won five Under 20 World Cups.
Messi has spoken about this generation feeling an “obligation” to win silverware. For a long time, the pressure of that expectation seemed to be crushing them.
But after the Paraguay game, as the players grinned their way into the bus, they seemed for the first time to be excited by it.
Is this, at last, the time to be champions, Sergio Aguero was asked. “The truth is,” he said, “I think we have a great team to achieve that objective.”
Chile have an even lengthier drought to try to bring to an end.
They have never won a trophy, despite being one of the four sides who took part in the first Copa America in 1916.
As the prize has approached, they have become increasingly pragmatic – taking no action against Arturo Vidal as he faces drink-driving charges, for instance, while Gonzalo Jara provoked Uruguay’s Edinson Cavani into getting sent off in the quarter-final with a jab of the finger to a sensitive area – and increasingly anxious.
The 2-1 win against Peru in the semi-final was arguably their worst display of the tournament, despite them playing against 10 men for 70 minutes of the game. It was only after Cavani’s red card that they really began to look like scoring in the quarter-final against Uruguay.
Somebody is going to bring their drought to an end and, after a long period of attritional drift, the momentum has begun to swing behind Argentina.
It will, though, be fascinating to see which Chile turn up in Santiago – the confident side in the group stages or the more nervous outfit of the knockout games.
PREDICTION
The key for Argentina against Paraguay was the early goal. After that, Paraguay were forced to come out and attack, and the result was space for Argentina’s forwards.
Chile are a naturally proactive team and have the advantage of having played together, and in a similar style, for several years. The worry for them is that Argentina can take advantage of the gaps they naturally leave behind them. As a short team, Chile also look vulnerable in the air against the side that has won the highest percentage of aerial duels in the tournament. Argentina have more ways to win and should do so.
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