The coach of the Chilean national team, Ricardo Gareca, included Alexis Sánchez and Ben Brereton, but left out Arturo Vidal in the list of 24 players he called up this Friday for the friendly against Paraguay before the Copa América.
‘El Tigre’ Gareca also called up goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, full-back Mauricio Isla and striker Eduardo Vargas to face the Paraguayan team on June 11, in Santiago.
All of them were highlights of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ that gave Chile its only two Copa América titles, in 2015 and 2016.
But, as happened in March, Gareca once again left out Vidal and Gary Medel, important names of that generation, although he did not rule out calling them up for the final list of the next Copa América, which will be played from June 20th to June 14th. July in the United States.
“Then I can expand, I can bring, I can take […] This has to do strictly with the game against Paraguay”, guaranteed the Argentine coach.
Gareca also did not nominate Luciano Cabral, who would have difficulty obtaining a visa to the United States, due to a murder conviction in Argentina.
After the Copa América, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will resume in September. Chile occupies eighth place out of a total of 10 teams.
Check out the squad list for the friendly against Paraguay:
Goalkeepers: Gabriel Arias, Claudio Bravo and Brayan Cortés.
Defenders: William Maripan, Paulo Diaz, Igor Lichnovsky, Matthias Catalan, Mauricio Isla, Gabriel Suazo, Philip Loyola and Thomas Galdames.
Socks: Erick Pulgar, Rodrigo Echeverría, Marcelino Núñez, César Pérez, Maximiliano Guerrero and Darío Osorio.
Attackers: Cristián Zavala, Diego Valdés, Víctor Dávila, Marcos Bolados, Alexis Sánchez, Ben Brereton and Eduardo Vargas.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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