Cup win is for the north, say Iquique

Deportes Iquique lifted the Copa Chile for the third time by beating Huachipato 3-1 – and dedicated it to the people affected by the recent earthquakes that hit the north of Chile.

Santiago – Striker Manuel Villalobos gave Iquique the lead in the fourth minute and they were well on their way to lifting the cup when Nicolás Crovetto scored an own-goal eight minutes later.

Huachipato had a golden chance to cut the deficit on the half-hour, but Juan José Morales saw his penalty saved by Iquique keeper Rodrigo Naranjo.

It looked as though Iquique would stroll to victory as they maintained their two-goal advantage deep into the second half, but the game came alive in the last ten minutes.

Iquique´s Mauricio Zenteno was penalised for a handball in the box in the 83^rd minute and sent off. Half-time substitute Francisco Arrué converted the spot-kick to give the acereros renewed hope.

However, it was snuffed out almost immediately as César Pinares netted with a long-range effort in the 86^th minute to restore Iquique´s two-goal cushion.

Captain Naranjo said: “We´ve had a bad time and the team was on the floor with everything that had happened, but we promised to win the cup for our people. We dedicate it to the people of the north.”

Before the cup final, Colo Colo had run out 7-1 winners in their charity match against the ´Selección Sifup´, the players´ union, in aid of those affected by the Valparaíso fires at the weekend.

Mauro Olivi hit a hat-trick, while Juan Delgado, Luis Pavez, Mathías Vidangossy and Jaime Valdés also scored for the albos. Julio Gutiérrez scored for the Sifup team in front of around 4,000 fans at the Estadio Monumental.

Tags: Colo Colo, Copa Chile, Football, Huachipato, Iquique, Sifup