Chile needs a true miracle to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when on the last date they face on Tuesday in Santiago
Uruguay, which has already tied its ticket to the World Cup.
The 4-0 win that Brazil gave him on Thursday at the Maracana stadium left the spirits on the ground in the ‘Roja’, but the team now clings to its history to maintain the hope of playing in Qatar and not seeing their second consecutive World Cup.
“This team has overcome many difficulties and I think this is not going to be the exception,” Ronnie Fernández, the young striker from the University of Chile, told the press.
Chile must beat Uruguay and hope that neither Colombia nor Peru – which also aspire to the playoffs – win their duels. Peru plays in Lima against Paraguay, while Colombia is measured on a visit to Venezuela, the absolute bottom of the qualifiers. With 19 units, the Chileans fell to seventh place.
Peru was in fifth place, with 21 units, and Colombia, sixth, with 20. “We hope to do it in the best way to win the three points and wait for the results to come through,” said Gabriel Suazo on his side.
Coach Martín Lasarte appeals to the history of a team, whose player base, the so-called ‘Golden Generation’, has given Chile two of its greatest sporting victories: the 2015 Copa América in Santiago, and the Centenario, a year later in the United States.
The Chilean Hope
Facing the duel against the “Charrúas”, which will be played at the San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium, in the east of Santiago, the team received some good news: striker Ben Brereton -who did not play against Brazil due to injury- has done work physical on par with the squad and could be in a position to play next Tuesday.
Brereton, born in England, where he defends the Blackburn Rovers shirt, has been the revelation of the Chilean team. Without speaking a drop of Spanish, the affection shown to the Chilean jersey and his performance at key moments has made him one of the favorites of the fans, who nickname him “Super Ben”.
Lazarte must decide who will replace the suspended Claudio Bravo, goalkeeper and team captain, and defender Paulo Díaz. Brayan Cortés would enter the goal to replace Bravo, while Guillermo Maripán or Erick Pulgar sound to replace Díaz. The ‘Celeste’, meanwhile, suffered a noticeable loss.
Coach Diego Alonso lost Facundo Pellistri, the 20-year-old striker, who was suspended for accumulating yellow cards for the duel against the Chileans. Uruguay tied up its ticket to Qatar after beating Peru 1-0 last Thursday in Montevideo.
The meeting between Uruguay and Chile is scheduled for this Tuesday, March 29, starting at 8:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. GMT). Simultaneously, the other matches will be played in which the playoff quota is disputed.
The party will be directed by Argentine Patricio Loustau, accompanied by his compatriots Juan Pablo Belatti, Ezequiel Brailovsky and Andrés Merlos.
Likely lineups
Chile: Brayán Cortéz, Enzo Roco, Mauricio Isla, Paulo Díaz, Gary Medel, Arturo Vidal, Claudio Baeza, Gabriel Suazo, Charles Aránguiz – Alexis Sánchez and Eduardo Vargas DT: Martín Lasarte.
Uruguay: Sergio Rochet, Ronald Araújo, Diego Godín, José María Giménez, Mathías Olivera, Damián Suárez, Rodrigo Bentancur, Federico Valverde, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Luis Suárez and Darwin Núñez. DT: Diego Alonso.
AFP
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