Arsene Wenger has praised Alexis Sanchez’s audacity after he scored the winning penalty as Chile won the Copa America.
The Arsenal forward struck the decisive goal in the shoot-out with a ‘Panenka’ to give the hosts their first ever major international trophy.
“They had quite a comfortable lead when he took the penalty but I was a bit worried because he missed one with us,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.
“He has shown again that he is scared of nothing. He took the ball and chipped the keeper. It was quite audacious but I was of course over the moon to see him bring the trophy to a country that has waited for such a long time.
“It is an historic achievement and when you’re a football player, you want to do that, so I’m very happy for him.
“I texted him [after the final] and he texted me back," revealed Wenger. "He was already focused on next season with Arsenal and wants to win everything with us. He was thrilled and very happy.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
