Colombia vs. Chile: Reigning champs face very formidable foe

Double reigning champs Chile will be looking to make it a three-peat as they lock horns with Colombia in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Chile, who won this competition in 2015 and 2016, could become the first side since Argentina to win three consecutive titles. Back when La Albiceleste achieved this feat in 1945, 1946, and 1947, this tournament was known as the South American Championship. Since it was re-branded and re-formatted as the Copa America in 1975, no team has ever been able to win three in a row.

One player all eyes have been on so far for Chile is none other than Alexis Sanchez. The ex-Arsenal, Barcelona, and Udinese man endured a miserable season at Old Trafford after his mega-money move from Arsenal, and so the pressure was on him to have a great competition this summer in Brazil.

Sanchez appears to be a totally different player, and whereas he struggled to find the back of the net in England, that’s not the case here. With two goals to his name, he’s among a crop of people battling for the top scorer prize, including Edinson Cavani, Philippe Coutinho, and Luis Suarez.

Chile also had a solid group stage campaign, with the only blemish being a 1-0 defeat to eventual group winners Uruguay. However, they could be missing veterans Gary Medel and Arturo Vidal for this contest. The former picked up a muscular injury during the loss to Uruguay, whilst midfield warrior Vidal came into this tournament carrying an injury and thus his fitness is a serious concern for coach Reinaldo Rueda.

Colombia, meanwhile have been simply outstanding so far in Brazil. Los Cafeteros kicked things off with a resounding 2-0 victory over Argentina, and were the only team to finish all three group stage games with a perfect nine points out of nine. Besides Brazil, Colombia are also the only side who didn’t concede a single goal during the group stages – an impressive feat as they had to keep Argentina at bay for 90 minutes.

Only Luis Muriel is out for this game, meaning that Carlos Queiroz will have pretty much every one available. That includes Atalanta-based striker Duvan Zapata, who had a brilliant season for La Dea as his goals helped fire Gian Piero Gasperini’s side into the Champions League after they secured third spot in Serie A.

However, Colombia have struggled against Chile in the past. In fact, they are winless in their last nine encounters with La Roja and so obviously they’ll have to find a way to overcome that frustrating run.