Juan Antonio Pizzi: Scorned In Valencia , Champion Of America.

By Ewah Chika.

Criticised and scrutinised heavily by the Chilean press before the Copa America in USA, Juan Antonio Pizzi was highly tipped to be shown the exit door the same way Peter Lim sacked him after taking over Valencia in July 2014. Pizzi was appointed midway after the

sacking of Miroslav Djukic before his sacking in July. The Argentine would later lead Valencia to the semi-final of the Europa League before losing out to eventual winners Sevilla and finishing 8th by the end of the season. This meant Valencia failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 16 years hence the reason for his sack. 

Fast forward to 2016 and Pizzi is now celebrating winning the Copa America with Chile after taking over from Jorge Sampaoli in February. This is the first time Pizzi is taking over a national side and he has done a perfect job judging from results . Before the tournament , Chile won just one of their previous six games and were written off as mere participants. The former Pinchichi winner with Tenerife in 1996 made it known he was aiming for the title as he said, "In their minds my players are convinced they are going to win. That mentality allows them to strive and to have the self-belief to succeed."

One of the first things Pizzi got right before the tournament was promoting both Jose Pedro Fuenzalida and Edson Puch to the senior team as the two players were an inspiration at the tournament. 

It was not until Chile beat Mexico 7-0 in the quarter-final that everybody sat up and took them serious. This was the first time Mexico was beaten since last year's Copa America. Next up was Colombia and Pizzi's team destroyed them scoring 13 goals against Panama, Mexico and Colombia. While Sampaoli spent three years instilling his tactics and strategies on the Chilean players, Pizzi had only spent four months coming up with a near perfect team. Though Chile were beaten in the group stage of the tournament and South American 2018  World Cup qualifiers by Argentina 2-1, that did not matter as Chile had the last laugh at the end of the game. The Argentine paired Eduardo Vargas and Puch upfront, with Marcelo Diaz as an anchorman (although red carded in the 29th minute of the game after fouling Lionel Messi twice), Jean Beausejour played in the left flank with Gary Medel and Gonzalo Jara partnering in central defence with the ever reliable Bravo in goal making the team nearly impossible to be defeated. 

This was one of the best displays by any Chilean side as they used their energy, high-pressing , athletism, defensive discipline to frustrate Argentina who lost on penalties. 

In the heat of the excitement the Argentine Spanish international who played for Barcelona, Valencia and Villarreal had this to say, "These back and forths, highs and lows that football gives you, the best way to enjoy them is to have as much balance as possible to have great equilibrium. 

"Every time you overcome an obstacle a challenge, another one arrives just as difficult." 

Pizzi might not be the greatest or known outside South America and Spain but surely in the USA he has announced himself on the global scene and hence will be in high demand soon after his exploit is analysed by many national teams and club sides.