In Santa Clara, Calif. on June 18, 2016 – Miguel Layun of Mexico throws his hands up at he is unable to comprehend Mexico’s surprising defeat to Chile in an unheard of 7 – 0 final score. Photo by David Leah.
By Staff Writer
Santa Clara, Calif. – Mexico crashed out the Copa American Centenario hard on Saturday night, falling to a 7-0 defeat to Chile in front of a 70,000+ largely Mexican crowd at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The result, which was the worst in the history of the Mexican national team, means Chile will progress to a semifinal clash with Colombia. Mexico meanwhile, will be left to ponder how it could all have gone so badly for them.
Mexico, along with Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, had been one of the favorites to win the Copa America. While Chile, for whatever reason, were more under the radar, despite coming into the Copa as defending champions.
On Saturday night the South Americas were so dominant they only allowed Mexico a single shot on goal over the course of 90 minutes in which Edson Puch scored two goals, Eduardo Vargas scored four, and Alexis Sanchez contributed with a single goal in the second half.
Eduardo Vargas (11) of Chile celebrates after scoring against Mexico in the Copa America Centenario on June 18, 2016. Vargas scored one more than a hat trick (4 goals) during the slaughter against Mexico. Photo by David Leah.
The loss was a massive turnabout from the pretournament friendly the two played last month, in which Mexico beat Chile by a single goal. It also ended Mexico’s 22-match unbeaten streak.
Afterwards, Mexican players took to social media to apologize to fans and express their disappointment and regret.
“Apologies to all Mexicans. We failed them. We are very embarrassed, sad and hurting,” tweeted Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
The loss also threw the future of Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio into question. The Colombian manager has overseen a 10-game continuous unbeaten streak during which El Tri have only conceded two goals.
But speaking to the press after Saturday’s blowout, he admitted he had “made mistakes in everything” and that Mexico had “a horrible game.”
Meanwhile, after starting off slowly in a tournament in which they were not a seeded team, despite being the Copa holders, Chile has improved game over game and looks to be hitting peak form just as the business end of the tournament dawns.
Having punched their ticket to the next round, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s team must surely now be considered favorites to reach the final, where they will likely meet Argentina in a rematch of last year’s final.
Photos by ISI.
