Santiago (Chile): Hosts Chile, rocked by the arrest for drunk-driving of star midfielder Vidal earlier in the week, turned on the style to ensure qualification for the quarterfinals of the Copa America as group winners with a 5-0 demolition job of Bolivia. Both Chile and Bolivia had already been assured of a place in the last eight after Ecuador’s 2-1 victory over Mexico earlier in the day.
Goals from Charles Aranguiz (2), Alexis Sanchez, Gary Medel and an own goal from Bolivia captain Ronald Raldes completed a one-sided rout for the hosts, who now face a quarterfinal in Santiago next Wednesday against the best ranked third placed team from the first phase, most likely to be either Uruguay or Paraguay.
“To beat the great teams that we will face from now on, the only chance we have is to play the way we played today,” Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli said. “We scored five times, and the team has to keep prioritising the attack, but we also need to have some balance when we face a tougher opponent than we faced today.”
The Chileans, who included Vidal in their starting line-up, swept into an early lead after only three minutes with a well-worked goal from Aranguiz.Inter Milan defender Medel pumped a long ball forward, and Eduardo Vargas knocked down it into the path of Aranguiz, who drilled a low shot beyond Bolivia goalkeeper Romel Quinonez.
English Premier League star Sanchez made it 2-0 with a superb low header on 37 minutes to leave Chile in control at half-time.Aranguiz grabbed his second of the evening at 66 minutes, finishing off a low cross from Angelo Henriquez. Medel made it 4-0 with a superb individual effort in the 80th minute, playing a one-two with Jorge Valdivia, controlling on his chest and then lifting a chipped finish over Quinonez.
