Chile, in emphatic fashion, is moving on to the Copa America semifinals.
Eduardo Vargas scored four goals, and La Roja scored five in the second half to defeat Mexico 7-0 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Saturday.
Inside the San Francisco 49ers' stadium, Chile put on a beatdown that could have been an NFL score. That opened the door for multiple American football references from CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, The Cauldron's Andy Glockner and NBC Sports' Raphielle Johnson:
Jason La Canfora @JasonLaCanforaI suppose it's kinda fitting that Mexico lost by the NFL equivalent of 49-0 in the stadium inhabited by the 49ers #synergy
Raphielle Johnson @raphiellejAnd the PAT is good. 7-0 Chile.
Bryan Everson of Press Row Sports reached into the Crying Jordan vault to create a new way to utilize Michael Jordan's tears:
Chile struck first in the 16th minute with a goal by Edson Puch. Once that right-footed shot landed in the back of the net, the avalanche began.
That avalanche came in the form of Vargas.
The 26-year-old Chilean star scored his first goal in the 44th minute to give Chile some breathing room, as Univision Deportes showed:
Univision Deportes @UnivisionSports#MEXvCHI: 44'. Vargas anota el 2-0 para Chile tras una gran asistencia de Alexis Sánchez
While Vargas' goal was a solid individual effort, that was a sign of things to come for the Mexico defense. El Tri looked to be a step behind and seemed confused.
Four minutes into the second half, Mexico still had no response for Chile. Alexis Sanchez fired the ball past three Mexican defenders and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to give Chile a three-score lead, via Univision Deportes:
Univision Deportes @UnivisionSports#MEXvCHI: 49'. Alexis Sánchez anota el tercero para Chile que ya golea a México
Then it became the Vargas show. He followed Sanchez's right-footed goal with another one, this time on a breakaway opportunity, to give his team a 4-0 lead. Five minutes later, he drilled home another goal off a deflection from Ochoa, as Univision Deportes illustrated:
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated thought the score might as well have been bigger than that:
Grant Wahl @GrantWahlChile 4, Mexico 0. Might as well go for 7-1.
Johnson was in shock:
With the match out of reach, Vargas capped off his stellar performance with his fourth goal of the night at what seemed like an impossible angle, as Univision Deportes showed:
Univision Deportes @UnivisionSports#MEXvCHI: GOOOOOOL. Vargas marca el sexto de Chile al 74'
The TSG 1899 Hoffenheim forward's performance was so impressive that even the league he plays for couldn't help but take notice:
Bundesliga English @Bundesliga_ENHow about these stats from @eduvargas_17? What a performance from the @achtzehn99_en man! #Copa100 #MEXvCHI
Puch's second goal of the match capped off the dominant victory for Chile, which will move on to face Colombia in the semifinals Wednesday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Post-Match Reaction
Mexican manager Juan Carlos Osorio felt sorry the Mexico fans had to see that performance.
"First, I'd like to offer my most heartfelt apologies to the Mexican fans," Osorio said, per the Associated Press. "Today was a shameful presentation, an accident that happens in soccer. Obviously, there are bigger tragedies, but speaking in terms of sports, today was a very, very poor showing on our part. I repeat my apologies to all the people and fans."
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi was happy but knows there's more work to do.
"First of all, with much happiness I don't think it's easy to be the coach of a team that has this kind of superiority on the pitch like we did today against an opponent of that quality," Pizzi said. "It's such a prestigious tournament so you might imagine the feelings we have of much happiness and at the same time caution. We are very conscientious of our work and know there are high points and low points."
