Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez Must Inspire Chile to Copa America Victory

If the phrase "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" is true, then it is time for Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez to step up.

Both of those players have overcome adversity to become superstars, and now their country needs them most.

Against Uruguay in the Copa America quarter-final and Peru in the semi, neither of these two players were able to reach their finest level of performance, or anywhere close to it.

In these games, thanks to the limitations of the opposition, Chile were not punished. But in the final, against Argentina, if La Roja are to end their 99-year wait for the trophy, each and every man needs to pull their weight.

Jorge Saenz/Associated Press

And Vidal and Sanchez weigh a lot. These two are the players that everybody else in the team looks to for inspiration.

Vidal is a key part of Juventus' midfield and has won Serie A four times in a row with The Old Lady.

Alexis, meanwhile, earned his place alongside the man he now faces, Lionel Messi, at Barcelona, before moving to Arsenal and becoming the key man in their attack.

Both players came from poor backgrounds but rose up to reach the highest level.

Vidal was unable to afford the bus to his trial at Colo Colo and had to run there and back, per Sport 360. He eventually turned into the breadwinner for his five brothers and sisters and his mother, after his father had left the family.

Luis Hidalgo/Associated Press

Sanchez, per the Daily Mail, has also risen up from a background of poverty. Chris Waugh writes:

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Alexis Sanchez may now be able to call himself a £30million Premier League footballer but he has not always led such a gilded life.

Arsenal's new forward grew up in poverty-stricken rural Chile in a mining town called Tocopilla - which literally means Devil's Corner - and he used to perform on the street for money at the tender age of six.

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While the pair of them have not struggled for some time, thanks to multi-million pound contracts, they will not have forgotten the struggles they went through.

Both need to dig deep and find that level of perseverance to help break down Argentina on Saturday at the Estadio Nacional.

Luis Hidalgo/Associated Press

They started the tournament in bombastic form. Vidal struck the first goal of the competition for Chile, from the penalty spot against Ecuador.

Sanchez didn’t score in that game but ran like his shorts were on fire, lighting up the stadium with his effervescent energy.

Vidal struck twice more in the next game, against Mexico, as Chile drew 3-3. That put him to the top of the scoring charts, and there he has remained, alongside Paolo Guerrero and Sergio Aguero on three goals each.

Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

Sanchez didn’t score in that game either, but put in a perfect display, mature and unselfish. He finally got his goal in the 5-0 rout of Bolivia, with a brilliant diving header.

However, that game was the start of Vidal’s bad form. He was involved in a car crash in the days before the game and was taken off at half-time after a mediocre display.

Since then he hasn’t found his level, and Sanchez has appeared tired in the subsequent matches. But Chile need those two players to put everything aside against Argentina on Saturday.