Vargas & Chile defend Copa America title

It was a final that had everything: beautiful football, fighting spirit, excellent goal scoring opportunities, yellow cards, red cards, extra time, penalty shootout. And Eduardo Vargas was at the heart of the action. The forward started the game and along with his teammates, he had to survive two dangerous situations in the first half, in which Argentine Lionel Messi should have given his side the lead.

Chile played with a man less from the 28th minute after Marcelo Diaz was given his marching orders for a foul on Messi. Vargas' team only had a numerical disadvantage for a quarter of an hour because Argentina‘s Marcos Roja then also saw red.

After the break, the game was much calmer but Argentina had further good opportunities to open the scoring. Sergio Aguero blazed over the crossbar from just a few metres out in the 84th minute. The game headed into extra time – Vargas wasted a good chance in the 99th minute, before Chile keeper Claudio Bravo denied Aguero moments later.

And so the final went to penalties. Vargas was no longer on the pitch at this stage, having been substituted in the 109th minute. He watched from the sidelines as Messi missed his penalty, his keeper Bravo parried Lucas Biglia's penalty and his teammate Francisco Silva converted the decisive spot-kick to defend Chile’s title.

Afterwards, there was jubilation, joy and the trophy presentation – twice over for Vargas. With six goals to his name, the Hoffenheim star was the tournament’s top scorer.