After Thirty-seven
years staring a war between the neighboring countries, the final of the Copa
America Saturday between Chile and Argentina revives a historical rivalry
between the two sides of the Andes.
Match
details:
Chile vs.
Argentina
Copa America
Final 2015
Today July
4, Saturday
Start at 4
p.m. (ET), 9 p.m. (BST)
Chile, good
student of the region economically but less brilliant plan in sport, will face
one of the toughest rivals.
Yet it is
far from considering his neighbor as a brother country, despite the more than
5,000 kilometer border it shares with him and well integrated community of
60,000 Argentines living in Chile.
Officially,
bilateral relations are characterized as "excellent", especially
since the return to head the Chilean socialist Michelle Bachelet in March 2014,
giving new impetus to ties cooled somewhat under the mandate of right President
Sebastian Pinera (2010-2014).
"Football
cannot interfere with the deep ties between our two countries", insisted
Wednesday the Chilean Foreign Minister, Heraldo Munoz, in an attempt to lighten
the mood before Saturday's game.
In 1978,
Chile and Argentina, both then ruled by a military dictatorship countries were
on the brink of war after a territorial dispute over the sovereignty of islands
in the Beagle Channel.
With troops
deployed on both sides of the border, the conflict could be resolved only after
the mediation of Pope John Paul II.
