Match Analyses: Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California), 07.06.2016. 4:00

Referee: Daniel Fedorczuk (Uruguay)

Attendance: 69451

ARGENTINA

Coach: Gerardo Martino

Playing System: 4-2-3-1

CHILE

Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Playing System: 4-3-3

Argentina Defence

Defending Play of Argentina 1

As it was expected, both Argentina and Chile will play the pressing game according to pressing triggers. This could be seen during the whole game. Argentina needed good communication and they had this unity inside the team.
We can see that Gaitán is waiting for the trigger that is a diagonal pass towards the flank. Augusto realises that he needs to step back immediately and Mascherano also reading the game by checking the un-marked players. He knows that Augusto is stepping back so Mascherano can also mark a player. Argentina are forcing the play towards the flanks and as it happens, Gaitán starts the pressing. Well-organised pressing. This is a team pressing trigger, but there are individual pressing triggers also.

Defending Play of Argentina 2

Banega realised that the player on the ball is dribbling the ball backwards (towards the Chilean goal) and it is also an individual trigger for pressing. He needed to approach the player immediately as he was close enough to do that. Also it was needed that other Argentinean players didn't give any free options for the opponent. We can see Maschareno taking care of three possibilities. This led to the first Argentinean goal as they counter-attacked the opponent after this successful and clean tackle. A quick 3v2 and a great finish. Typical South-American direct football.

Chile Defence 

Defending Play of Chile

Chile also used the high-pressing tactics on occasions but they managed to organise their lines and regroup. They also had a tactics in connection with this.
We can see many Chilean players running back to re-unite. This gave space for the Argentinean midfielders to go forward a bit. So Chilean midfielders dragged the Argentinean players into a trap. It was a trap because two Chilean attackers ( Sanchez and Vargas) stayed forward and waited for the long balls to come. Sometimes a 2v2 situation happened after a long ball but they didn't manage to score from these occasions.

Argentina Attack 

Attacking Play of Argentina

Firstly, one of the most important thing in connection with this game is that Messi started it (and as it later turned out, stayed) on the bench, so Argentina needed to replace the creativity of Lionel Messi. Martino chose a back four and a triangle in midfield. The idea was to overload the midfield and bring the ball through the lines in the central areas.
We can see the two pivot players behind the midfield line and one of the attacking midfielders stepping back next to Banega. This gave them the flexibility and unpredictability because the opponent didn't know who was going to step back for the ball and who to go with.
Mascherano had a difficult role, maybe more difficult than he has in Barcelona because he had to play the Busquets role. Almost every attack went through him and he needed to be really clever not to lose the ball in such a dangerous area. He made many long passes to create 1v1s on the flanks. Augusto was the one that went forward sometimes so Mascherano had to really read the game during the 90 minutes and it is a hard task mentally.
In the first half, Argentina didn't find the breakthrough point on the opponent's defence due to lack of precision. 

Chile Attack

Attacking Play of Chile 1

It was typical that Chile didn't play with high full-backs. The reason was that they were looking for longer ground passes into space between the lines. We can see the midfield triangle that had to be played with a firm, precise pass. This also put pressure on Mascherano and Augusto from the opponent. 

Attacking Play of Chile 2

As they managed to break through the midfield line of Argentina, Sanchez stepped back into space for the ball as a deep-organiser. Aranguiz stepped forward as Alexis stepped back. This movement made the Argentinean players decide who to go with. As Alexis got the ball there were one player (Vargas) ready for a through ball and one player stepping back to help the player on the ball (Aranguiz). This was the typical tactics of Chile to get behind the Argentinean defence who were defending high as they played the pressing game.
Chile finally found the back of the net in the last minute in the additional time but it wasn't enough for a draw.

Summary

Argentina scored the second goal after a similar situation than they scored the first but after they got the ball it wasn't a 3v2 but a 3v3 separated into a 1v1 that was won by the attacker. The shot was deflected so Claudio Bravo had no chance to save.
Both teams lacked precision during the whole game, we couldn't see too much individual performance, except for Mascherano and Sanchez. Sanchez was the key in attack for Chile when it came to creativity in the attacking third. Mascherano had to concentrate and focus during the whole game as he led the Argentinean attacks by changing the point of attack.
Argentina had less possession but more dangerous attacks. Chile had more shots on goal but it was only 5 during the 90 minutes. Chile had their chances but lacked of precision mostly in the attacking third. Tata Martino chose the right tactics to wait, press and counter-attack the opponent. Messi didn't play but Chile couldn't live with this chance.