A night of powerful emotion for the local Chilean fans as they saw the home nation team toil to overcome current champions, Uruguay and secure a semi final place in a Copa America tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Sampaoli’s team took 25 minutes to overcome their historical hang-up and a Charles Aránguiz shot finally called Uruguayan keeper, Fernando Muslera into action.
That was the spark that saw Chile up their game and a header and later a shot from Alexis Sánchez that went over the bar coupled with a power driver from Vidal finally gave the home support some belief that their tournament would stretch past the quarter finals.
The second half was a constant wave after wave of attack by the players in red. Despite the onslaught it was Uruguay who nearly broke the deadlock with Rolán coming close on 53 minutes.
The tide of the game changed in the 63rd minute when provocation from Gonzalo Jara saw Cavani recieve his second yellow of the evening and was dismissed. The PSG forward responded after some unpleasant provocation from the Chilean defender and then was clearly angry with Brazilian referee, Sandro Ricci as he was given his marching orders.
Jorge Sampaoli took advantage of the numerical advantage and brought on Mauricio Pinilla and Matías Fernández. The dynamic of the match had changed and saw Uruguay prepared to hang on and launch isolated counter-attacks. Chile’s game-plan was now, attack, attack and attack.
When it seemed certain that the game was destined to be decided on a penalty shoot-out, Mauricio Isla picked up a ball from Valdivia outside the area and drove a low shot past Muslera.The relief of 45.000 fans was palpable. This was more than just a goal, this banished ghosts of the past that saw Chile stumble on so many occasions at this point of the Copa America.
With just three minutes left, Fucile was sent off for a foul on Sánchez and a fracas erupted on the pitch which saw Giménez push a linesman.
So Chile qualify for a Copa América semi-final for the first time since the 1999 competition in Paraguay. They also confirmed that they are a serious candidate to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
Follow the Copa América timetable here.
And the day-to-day fixtures here.