Chile faces a long and complicated renewal process, in which it tries to replace the team that went to two World Cups and won the Copa América twice. That replacement has cost him and the beginning of the tie raised some doubts. With that panorama, they will receive Colombia in Santiago this Tuesday.
The Argentine Eduardo Berizzo, who replaced Martín Lasarte after the failure in the qualifying round for Qatar 2022, decided on a large bouquet. He called up 45 players, including the U-23 base that will face the Venezuela Pre-Olympic in January.
And on that long list there are only five players left of those who won the Copa América Centenario: Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sánchez, Erick Pulgar, Gary Medel and Charles Aranguiz.
⚽️???????? ????????́???????????????? ???????? #???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???? ‼️
???? These are the players summoned by the coaching staff led by Eduardo Berizzo, for the FIFA Qualifying date in September. pic.twitter.com/F0bwDCquWH
— Chilean National Team (@LaRoja) August 26, 2023
The atmosphere is not easy for Berizzo, who had a preparation process with many defeats, against rivals such as South Korea, Tunisia, Ghana, Morocco and Poland, and draws against Slovakia and Qatar.
Then they narrowly beat Paraguay, tied with Bolivia and beat two lower-level rivals, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
The return of two historical figures for the starter
Against Colombia, two of the historical players will return, Vidal (36 years old) and Sánchez (35). The latter, ruled out due to physical problems in the first game, is Berizzo’s bet. “He is an important option, who opens the attack clearly, he is a top player. We will surely have it in the headline,” he announced.
Vidal’s entry in Montevideo gave Chile the football it lacked at the beginning of the match.
Photo:
Gaston Britos. Efe
“Outside one suffers more, but we have to continue, we have to help the younger ones and get the greatest number of points in these Qualifiers. I always want to help, but sometimes you have to understand that others are better off,” said the Athlético Paranaense player.
Berizzo, who left the historic Claudio Bravo off the list and plays with Brayan Cortés in goal, puts together a line of four players in the back (Delgado, Catalán, Medel and Suazo), two recovery midfielders (Pulgar and Núñez ), Vidal as the axis of the team, with the support of Diego Valdés and Ben Brereton on the wings, and a man at the top, who will now be Sánchez. This is how the team stopped at 5-0 against the Dominican Republic, the last game before the tie and the closest to what it would put against Colombia.
Chile suffered from the speed of Uruguay, the team with the youngest average age on the first date, both on the wings and in the center. That may be the key to the game.
Jose Orlando Ascension
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
More Sports news
2023-09-11 23:59:10
#Colombia #National #Team #analysis #Chile #rival #tie #International #Football #Sports
