Claudio Bravo was the hero for Chile as he saved
all three Portugal penalties to send his side into
the Confederations Cup final in a 3-0 shoot-out
victory in Kazan.
Chile had been denied a clear penalty in the
second period of extra-time and hit the woodwork
twice in quick succession soon after, but they
wrapped up the win in convincing fashion from
the spot.
Arturo Vidal, Charles Aranguiz and Alexis Sanchez
were all on target for the Copa America
champions, while Ricardo Quaresma, Joao
Moutinho and Nani were all denied by Manchester
City stopper Bravo.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo did not step
up to take a spot-kick.
The match itself finished goalless after a largely
drab 90 minutes, before springing into life late in
extra-time.
The video assistant referee was not called into
action to review Jose Fonte's clear foul on
Francisco Silva in the box, before Vidal and Martin
Rodriguez hit the frame of the goal.
On balance, it was a deserved victory for Chile,
who also won both of their Copa America titles
from the spot after the matches ended goalless.
A scything early throughball from Sanchez to
Eduardo Vargas came to nothing when Portugal
goalkeeper Rui Patricio dived at the forward’s feet,
before Bravo kept out Andre Silva at the other end
as the match started at a promising pace.
Those early chances proved not to be a sign of
things to come, however, and it was not until
Aranguiz sent a header narrowly wide just short of
the half-hour mark that either side came close to
troubling the scoreline again.
A wild slice on the half-volley from Aranguiz soon
after saw another opportunity to break the
deadlock come and go, though Chile were
beginning to look most likely to go ahead.
The match was crying out for a goal but Andre
Gomes offered a strong indication that he would
not the man to deliver it by dragging an awful
shot well wide of the target early in the second
half.
Vidal then jumped too early to meet a well-
weighted hanging cross, sending the ball high and
wide, but Vargas did draw a save from Patricio
when he shaped himself brilliantly to unleash a
powerful overhead kick.
Ronaldo, who had been quiet since setting up
Silva's early chance, fired an effort straight at
Bravo as the game started to open up, before
lifting a free-kick harmlessly over from a
promising position having stood ominously over
the ball in trademark fashion.
The skipper then saw a shot deflected wide and
miscued a header – the match careering
inevitably towards the additional periods.
The first chance of extra-time fell to Sanchez, but
the Arsenal man's header curled agonisingly wide
having initially looked destined for the bottom
corner.
Chile's penalty that never was came seven
minutes into the second period, yet VAR was not
consulted. Replays clearly showed the Portugal
defender making contact with Silva's foot.
Then came Chile's woodwork frustration - a fierce
Vidal strike bounced back off the right-hand post,
only for Rodriguez's improvised effort on the
rebound to hit the crossbar.
When the shoot-out came around, Portugal
produced three poor penalties - the efforts from
Quaresma and Moutinho were almost identical and
Nani stuttered to a strike that failed to fool Bravo,
sparking jubilant celebrations among the Chile
squad.
Chile face Mexico or Germany in Sunday's final.
GOAL.COM
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