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Sampaoli cautious despite Chile's Copa victory

By Gideon Long SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile have taken a great step forward by winning the Copa America for the first time but could still struggle to qualify for the next World Cup, coach Jorge Sampaoli predicted on Saturday. The hosts won South American bragging rights for the first time when they beat Argentina 4-1 on penalties after the match had ended 0-0 following 90 minutes and extra-time. "When you win something as important as this people start to dream of the future, but the World Cup qualifiers have really nothing to do with this success,” Sampaoli. "It’s going to be very hard, very competitive, and there are teams who grew a lot at this Copa America and they’re going to be very strong. "We won’t have home advantage, we’ll be playing at altitude sometimes and we’ll be going to some tough places." The qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup start in October and Chile will be expected to do well following their victory here, but Sampaoli said that for now he just wanted to enjoy the experience of winning the Copa. This was Chile’s 37th attempt over a tournament’s 99-year-history and their victory sparked wild celebrations throughout the country. "I have to take my hat off to the guys, they played with a lot of class and composure against a team that obviously have a lot of quality and a lot of good players." Sampaoli said he was pleased with the way Chile dealt with the threat of Argentine playmaker Lionel Messi, who had a quiet match by his own high standards. "The idea of the match was to neutralize their important players, including the best player in the world. I’m sure that if Argentina had got the chance to dominate, Messi would have shown that he is the best player in the world,” Sampaoli said. "One defeat, one lost final, isn’t going to change what Lionel Messi is." (Editing by Nick Mulvenney)