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By Nick Dorrington (@chewingthecoca)

Chile scored twice in a lightning quick start to Wednesday's Copa America Centenario semi-final against Colombia, weathered solid pressure at the end of the first half and then returned to the pitch after a long, storm-induced delay to see out the remaining 45 minutes in difficult conditions and book their place in a repeat of last year's final against Argentina.

It is the fourth time the two teams will have faced each other over the course of the last 12 months. Chile won on penalties following a 0-0 draw in last year's final, but Argentina have recorded 2-1 victories in both of the more recent meetings. They were somewhat fortunate to do so when the sides met in a World Cup qualifier in Santiago back in March but there was no doubting the validity of the result when they triumphed by the same scoreline two-and-a-half weeks ago on the way to topping Group D of this competition.

Both teams have evolved as the tournament has gone on and have shown themselves to be the best two teams on display in the United States. But have Chile improved enough to make a game of it on Sunday?

The key to Argentina's group-stage win was their ability to disrupt Chile's build-up from the back. Augusto Fernandez and Ever Banega put relentless pressure on midfield receivers and forced a number of errors in possession. Having done so, they used the pace of Angel Di Maria to swiftly penetrate the Chilean defence. Chile's midfield three were unable to establish a rhythm or influence the game in any meaningful way.

Individual and collective performances in that zone have certainly improved since. Arturo Vidal was immense in the quarter-final thrashing of Mexico, while Marcelo Diaz looked to be back to his metronomic best in that same match before departing the field with a hamstring strain just before the hour mark. On Wednesday, with Vidal suspended and Diaz injured, Charles Aranguiz scored the opening goal, pressed ferociously and generally did an excellent job of holding things together in the absence of his usual companions.

The trio are highly likely to be united once more in Sunday's final but the structure will have to be better than it was in the earlier encounter if they are to have any chance of leading their side to victory.

Chile's style of play puts a lot of emphasis on the full-backs to move forward and provide outlets further up the pitch as moves are initiated from the back. There is a certain amount of risk involved in this approach, as it can leave the flanks exposed if the ball is given away. That risk is often reduced by dropping the deepest-lying midfielder in between the central defenders as play is being built in order to provide additional cover. But that mechanism didn't seem to be in place against Argentina, who ruthlessly exploited the resulting space.

In last year's final, then-coach Jorge Sampaoli kept his side compact in midfield in order to cut off lines of communication to Lionel Messi and then removed Diaz from this congestion by positioning him in the centre of a back three. Chile maintained their ability to construct passing moves from the back but did so in the context of a solid defensive structure.

Juan Antonio Pizzi will have to come up with something similarly ingenious this time around if Chile are to follow last year's historic triumph with another in this year's centenary show-piece. The focus will be on the attacking talent in both sides but it is in the midfield zone that Sunday's final will be won and lost.