Chile down Colombia to reach Copa final
Shilton, Maradona trade ‘Hand of God’ barbs
CHILE stormed into the Copa America final on Wednesday, beating Colombia 2-0 in a weather-disrupted semifinal that took more than four hours to complete.
The defending champions advanced to a repeat of last year’s final against Argentina on Sunday after a whirlwind start left Colombia chasing the game.
Chile, who had destroyed Mexico 7-0 in the quarter-finals on Saturday, picked up where they left off, scoring twice in the opening 11 minutes to take a grip on the contest.
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Charles Aranguiz opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Jose Pedro Fuenzalida made it 2-0 after 11 minutes.
“It ’s a good feel i ng to be back in t he f inal again af ter overcoming di f f icu lt opponent s,” Ch i le c oach Ju a n Antonio Pizzi said.
“We got off to a good start, played aggressively and had a lot of anticipation. That helped us score the goals.”
Chile’s explosive start to the contest was overshadowed by the intervention of Mother Nature at half-time, as a powerful electrical thunderstorm rolled into downtown Chicago and halted play.
Tens of thousands of spectators were ordered to ta ke DIEGO Maradona and former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton reignited on Wednesday their long-running feud, on t he 30t h anniversar y of t he A r gent i n ia n’s i n fa mous “Ha nd of God” World Cup goal.
Maradona, one of t he f inest footballers to play the game, scored t wice in Argentina’s 2-1 v ictor y over England in front of 115,000 fans on June 22, 1986, in Mexico.
The ga me will be forever remembered for two moments: when Maradona rose above Shilton to punch the ba l l i nto t he net (pic t u red, f rom YouTube) a nd t hen minutes later when he dribbled past half the Engla nd tea m before slot t i ng t he ba l l beyond Shilton.
It may be three decades on, but what shelter i nside t he stad iu m, leav ing the ground empty as torrent ia l ra in pounded t he stands.
For a while it looked as if play would be abandoned, with the teams forced to return to the venue yesterday to complete the remaining 45 minutes.
However a break in the weather allowed teams of ground staff to set about clearing excess water from the field, and after a delay of two hours and 25 minutes, the second half resumed at 10:25pm local time (0325 GMT).
“It was hard to stay focused, for those hours,” Pizzi said. “Just sitting in the dressing room waiting for something.” particularly irks t he goalkeeper even now is how his nemesis “celebrated t he f irst as if it was leg it imate”.
“I do not see how I cou ld forg ive him,” Shilton, now 66, who was one of t he f inest goalkeepers in t he game at the time, said in a column in the Argentinian sports daily Ole.
“He never apologised. He is the best player I went up against, but I would never be a fan of his. I would never sha ke his hand.” He added: “Maradona makes me sick.”
And Shilton even hinted at darker forces t hat saw Engla nd go out t he tou r na ment at t he qua r ter f i na l s, while Argentina won it.
“The whole world ta lks about t he ‘Ha nd of God’ . . . but we had t he impression that no matter how well
When play got under way both sides produced one of the most entertaining halfs of the tournament, Colombia attacking relentlessly in an effort to get back into the match and Chile chasing a third goal to kill the game off.
Penalty appeal
Colombia had appeals for a penalty waved away early in the second half when Daniel Torres tumbled over the outstretched leg of Gonzalo Jara in the penalty area.
With Real Madrid star James Rodriguez doing his best to take control of the match, Colombia looked lively in attack but were unable to find we played, things were arranged in advance,” he said. He did not elaborate on what he meant.
Maradona, a fiercely proud Argentinian whose brilliant career was soi led by of f-f ield indiscret ions including r un-ins wit h t he law, mocked Shilton in return.
“But who would want to go out with you, Shilton?” he asked in the same publication.
“Would I go out for a drink with a great goalkeeper? No, no.”
Back in 1986, in the post-match press conference, Maradona had tea sed repor ters wit h his version of what had happened i n t he f i rst goa l, at t r ibut i ng it to “a l it t le wit h t he head of Maradona a nd a l it t le with the hand of God”. the final ball to unlock Chile’s defence.
The Colombians’ job became even more daunting in the 57th minute when Aston Villa midfielder Carlos Sanchez was sent off, collecting a second yellow for a clumsy challenge on Aranguiz.
The closing stages of the game descended into a niggly encounter, with referee Chicas Aguilar of El Salvador eventually issuing eight yellow cards and one red.
Colombia continued to chase the game, but came up short, paying the price for a lackadaisical start that saw Chile seize control with two goals in the first 11 minutes. Rev isit i ng one of t he most controversia l incidents in World Cup histor y, t he diminutive Maradona said that it was God who propel led hi m to t he ball wit h his hand – what h e c a l l e d a “t r e me n d o u s goal”. “W i t h my si ze, I had no cha nce w it h m y h e a d a g a i n s t Shilton,” he a d d e d .