Copa America 2016- Chile Wins The Title By Beating Argentina

New Jersey: Chile retained the Copa America by claiming the one-off Copa America Centenario in a rematch against Argentina at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Just like last summer, two hours of soccer yielded no goals. And just like last year, the Chileans eventually prevailed on penalty kicks 4-2.

That saw to it that La Roja now has two straight South American titles – the second of which included the entire Western Hemisphere — after 99 years of futility in the tournament. Argentina, meanwhile, have now lost the final of a major tournament in three consecutive summers. In 2014, the World Cup final was lost to Germany in extra time.

Messi blazed a penalty over the bar in the shoot-out before Lucas Biglia missed to leave Chile's Francisco Silva with the task of stroking home the winning spot-kick at the MetLife Stadium. It was a carbon copy of last year's Copa America final, also won by Chile on penalties after a goalless draw.

Argentina’s players meanwhile were left disconsolate as they digested a third defeat in a major final following losses to Germany in the 2014 World Cup and Chile in last year's Copa. The defeat also ensured Argentina's 23-year wait for a major title — and a first for five-time world player of the year Messi -- continued. The final had gone to penalties after finishing deadlocked at 0-0 after 120 minutes. Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the first half as Brazilian referee Heber Lopes struggled to get a grip on an ill-tempered contest played in front of a crowd of 82,026.

The first yellow card of the match came in the 16th minute when Marcelo Diaz brought down Messi with a cynical hack across the thighs as the Barcelona star advanced on the Chilean goal. Argentina should have taken the lead on 21 minutes when a defensive blunder from Gary Medel, miscontrolling a back pass, allowed Gonzalo Higuain to go clean through on goal.

Higuain had time and space but opted to lift his shot over the advancing Bravo and it rolled wide of the post in a huge let-off for Chile. It was a nightmarish case of deja vu for Higuain, who missed potentially match winning chances in both the 2014 World Cup final and last year's Copa America. Seven minutes later Chile were left rocking when Messi burst forward only to be bodychecked blatantly by Diaz.

For a moment it appeared that referee Lopes had forgotten Diaz's earlier caution but eventually he brandished a red card and Chile were down to 10. It ought to have been a warning to both sides but the spiteful tone continued for the remainder of the half, with Javier Mascherano and Arturo Vidal next into the book in the 37th minute.

Chile became the fourth nation to win at least two consecutive Copa América titles, after Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Argentina, meanwhile, lost their third consecutive final in a major tournament, following a loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup and Chile at the 2015 Copa America. This was the 45^th edition of the tournament. Copa America also celebrates its 100^th year this year, as the first Copa America tournament took place in 1916. Thus, this edition was also known as Copa America Centenario.

 Hosted by USA, this was the first Copa América hosted outside of South America. A total of 16 nations participated in it.

The Fairplay award went to Argentina. All the three individual awards went to Chilean players — 27-year-old Alexis Sanchez won the Golden Ball award (3 goals), 26-year-old Eduardo Vargas won the Golden Boot award (6 goals) and 33-year-old Claudio Bravo won the Golden Glove award.

The next edition of Copa America, which is the 46^th edition, will take place in 2019 in Brazil.