In the remaining minutes, although Argentina created another shooting opportunity, Messi's shot still failed to score.
After 1 minute of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, and the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0-0.
The Chilean team's shrinking and defensive tactics were successful at least in the first half.
At halftime, the commentators commented:
"The first half of the game was tense and exciting. Argentina bombarded the Chilean team's penalty area and created many threatening shots, but failed to score a goal."
"I have to say that the Chilean team defended very well in this game and had great luck. Even Messi and Velarde failed to break their goal."
"Faced by the Chilean bus and iron barrel formation, Argentina, which was previously unstoppable, encountered a tenacious resistance."
"Whether Argentina can beat Chile in the 90 minutes of regular time is still a bit of a suspense!"
"However, looking at Argentina's attacking power, as long as they are lucky, it seems that scoring goals will not be a problem."
"The problem is the unpredictability of football itself. The team you think is sure to win sometimes fails."
"So, in the end, whether Argentina wins the championship as everyone expected, or Chile wins the championship in an upset, we can only wait for the results of the second half of the game between the two sides."
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. The Chilean team attacked for a while at the beginning of the second half, trying to sneak in.
But with Villard in Argentina, the Chilean team's sneak attack could not succeed at all. In the 53rd minute, a good ball passed down by left winger Sanchez was destroyed by Velarde's high-speed return defense, ahead of center Eduardo Vargas, and he pushed the ball out of the baseline.
Argentina's overall strength is much higher than that of Chile. As the game continued, Argentina gradually took control of the situation like it did in the first half, and then bombarded the Chilean team's half.
But it's still one step away from scoring.
In the 59th minute, Willard and Messi broke through the encirclement after a collision with the wall, and then hit a heavy shot outside the penalty area about 25 meters away from the goal.
But at the moment he shot, he was pushed and interfered by the Chilean forward Fuensalida from behind. Although the ball was powerful and fast enough, the angle was not tricky enough and it did not fly. Going from the angle he wanted, goalkeeper Bravo pounced and the ball flew out of the post, flew out of the baseline, and hit the billboard behind the baseline.
In the 65th minute, after Velarde, Messi and Higuain played as a team on the right to attract all the attention of the Chilean team, Velarde suddenly made a long pass and moved the ball into the gap on the left.
After Aguero unloaded the ball without any defense, he took a shot from the left corner of the penalty area and shot into the far corner. As a result, although the ball bypassed the goalkeeper's fingers, it also bypassed the goal frame and flew out of the bottom line against the far post.
Argentina's offense was as sharp as in the first half, and it could always hit the Chilean team's penalty area to form an attack. However, the last shot is always almost unlucky. Either it fails to hit the goal frame, it is saved by the goalkeeper, or it is destroyed by the defender.
The Chilean team had few opportunities to counterattack and failed to pose any threat.
The 0-0 score lasted until the 88th minute of the second half. Seeing that it was about to enter stoppage time, many people lamented that the Chilean team actually forced Argentina, led by the two superstars Messi and Velarde, into overtime. At this time, Willard and Messi finally completed a wonderful cooperation connection.
This is when Velarde got the ball in the midfield and easily broke through forward Eduardo Vargas who was returning to defend with a fried ball, and then took the ball when facing midfielder Marcelo Diaz's attack. It was pushed aside and passed to Messi who was receiving from the right wing.
Then Velarde bypassed Diaz and rushed towards the front of the Chilean team's penalty area. Messi also used a signature shoulder-sinking Matthews to pass through the wing-back Charles Alanghi on the wing. Si's interception, and then when he was entangled by winger Sanchez who was returning to defense, he opened up space and passed the ball to Velarde who was advancing in the middle.
Messi then bypassed Sanchez and moved forward, preparing to continue to support Velarde.
Seeing Messi passing the ball to Velarde who was advancing in the middle, center back Medel decisively rushed out of the penalty area and made a flying tackle, trying to destroy the ball before catching it.
But Velarde's speed and reaction were faster than him, he touched the ball first, and used a Marseille spin to dodge Medel's flying tackle, and was about to dribble the ball into the penalty area.
This time, the other center back Jara, the full back Beausejour, the back wing back Vidal, the chasing forward Eduardo Vargas and others all surrounded the place where Velarde was. came over and tried to surround Willard and prevent him from shooting.
Messi, who cut forward from the right wing and cut in to the right corner of the penalty area, had only Charles Aranguiz behind him, so he was very empty.
For a player of Messi's level, it is quite dangerous to have only one person next to you.
Thanks to his awareness of 96, Velarde instantly judged the current situation and did not fight alone. Instead, he made a more favorable choice. He passed the ball directly to the right corner of the penalty area. In the gap, he made a good ball for Messi who cut inside.
Following Velarde's pass, the Chilean players looked in the direction where the ball was rolling, and were shocked to see that Messi, who had completed the pass and cut forward diagonally, had already rushed to the corner of the penalty area. , facing the ground ball passed by Willard, he shot the ball directly with his left foot without stopping the ball, and kicked the ball towards the far goal.
The full-back Beausejour, who was about to double-team Velarde when he moved into the middle, was shocked. He immediately turned around and pounced back, jumping up in an attempt to dive over the top to clear the ball.
However, Messi's non-stop shot passed him quickly. The ball passed right in front of his scalp, looped in a wonderful arc in the air, and bypassed the goalkeeper Bravo who was flying sideways. Countless people at the scene and in front of the TV As the Argentinian fans watched nervously, he flew into the goal close to the far post.
In the 88th minute, Velard assisted Messi and scored, finally helping Argentina break the deadlock and rewrite the score to 1-0. Argentina led Chile by one goal.
With the birth of the first goal of the game, even with Messi's calm character, he was so excited that his face was ferocious. He opened his arms and ran towards the sidelines, waving his fists and shouting in celebration.
In the stands and in front of the TV, thousands of Argentine fans jumped up, clenched their fists, looked up to the sky and roared and cheered to vent their excitement.
On the sidelines, Gerardo Martino, Lamela and other coaches and substitute players also rushed in the direction of Messi's running to celebrate the goal with Messi.
In the commentary box, the commentator from Argentina also stood up from his stool excitedly, stepped on the stool, grabbed the microphone from the table, and roared three times in a row in the loudest voice:
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"Goooooooooooooooooooal..."
"Goooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Great Messi, great football king."
"Messi used his golden left foot to score Argentina's first goal, which may also be the goal that determines the championship."
"This is a perfect curve ball. The connection between Messi and Velarde finally broke the iron gate of the Chilean team possessed by the goddess of luck and sent the ball into the Chilean team's gate."
"Great Messi, great Velarde, great Argentina, this is a sure shot, the championship belongs to Argentina!"
