Chile Copa America 2024 squad guide: Pessimism reigns for squad of fading veterans (2024)

Chile won the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, and some of the players from those triumphs will be representing their country in this summer’s tournament — but expectation levels are laced with brutal realism…

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The manager

Anyone who has kept even half an eye on South American football over the last decade will be more than familiar with Ricardo Gareca, the affable Argentine coach who looks like he might well moonlight in a prog rock band. Gareca memorably led Peru to the 2018 World Cup and then to second place at the Copa America a year later — two achievements that looked impressive at the time but stand out to an even greater degree given how Peru have struggled in the years since.

Now Chile, who have been drifting since the glory days under Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli, will be hoping that he can do a similar job for them.

Gareca is generally relaxed in his approach but is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, as he did in March, when he left old-timers Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Charles Aranguiz out of his first squad. Some expected them to be recalled for the Copa America, but they have not been. Some considered that to be sacrilege but the message came through loud and clear: Gareca intends to walk his own path.

On the pitch, Gareca usually favours a pragmatic 4-2-3-1 system, aiming to strike a balance between defence and attack. The madcap swarm-ball that made Chile such a thrilling proposition in the 2010s is no more, which will probably disappoint neutrals but seems wise given the resources available in 2024. Given recent results, too: Gareca’s arrival in January came after Chile picked up just five points from the first 18 available in World Cup qualifying — a shaky start whichever way you cut it but especially poor considering they have yet to play Brazil or Argentina.

The impact of the change was instantaneous. Gareca led Chile to a 3-0 win over Albania in his first game in charge. The performance in a 3-2 defeat against France four days later was arguably even more heartening. These are very early days but the man with two nicknames — Gareca goes by ‘The Tiger’ and ‘Slim’ — already looks set to add a few extra layers to his cult appeal.

The household name you haven’t heard of yet

After relying on the same core group of players for years, Chile have long been searching for signs of regeneration. The brightest hope in some time is Dario Osorio, an explosive, left-footed winger who loves to cut in from the right flank. He impressed in his first season with new Danish champions Midtjylland and did well in the France friendly, capping a sparky individual performance with a goal of real opportunism and quality in the dying minutes. Opposition defenders would do well not to underestimate him this summer.

Strengths

Even with a few household names on the chopping-room floor, there is still vast experience in the playing squad. Claudio Bravo, Mauricio Isla, Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas have more than 550 caps between them, and were all key players when Chile won back-to-back Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016. Throw in Erick Pulgar, who was also there in 2016, and you have an incredible amount of tournament know-how.

On a more tangible level, fans are quite excited by the partnership between Osorio and the evergreen Isla on the right side. Forwards Sanchez and Vargas, meanwhile, remain fairly reliable performers on the international scene despite their advancing years. They have 92 Chile goals between them.

Weaknesses

Age may confer experience but the best sides in the world tend not to build around a core of players in their mid-thirties for a reason. Chile are no longer the physical force they once were and there is motive to doubt their ability to cope with younger, more energetic opponents, especially given the quick turnaround between games in a tournament.

Gareca’s selections suggest that he understands this, which is an advance on his predecessors, but the feeling in Chile is that this Copa America comes at a difficult moment: Gareca has started a process but has not had the time to properly shape the side in his image.

Thing you didn’t know

You will be aware that Ben Brereton Diaz, born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, England, became a Chile international in 2021. But you may not have realised just how big a deal he is in his adopted country.

The striker has appeared in countless television commercials. His face is plastered on billboards. He is even the star of an HBO documentary, in which he travels through some of Chile’s most beautiful landscapes. “He’s like a god here,” says Samuel Ferreiro, journalist at Chilean newspaper Las Ultimas Noticias.

What makes this a particularly remarkable turn of events is that Brereton Diaz still speaks barely a word of Spanish, despite his best efforts to learn. Gareca, indeed, left him out of his first squad in March, emphasising the importance of learning the language.

Expectations back home

Despite the recent uptick in morale and a handy 3-0 win over Paraguay in their sole warm-up match, the overall mood is still one of pessimism. Chileans are well aware that Gareca inherited a creaking side and that slow, careful renewal is the name of the game. In that context, this Copa America is a bit of a free hit: if the Golden Generation come to the party, they can bow out with heads held high; if they don’t, Gareca will have even greater licence to press on with further changes.

The draw was no disaster (Chile are in Group A) but neither will the path to the second round be simple: Chile will expect to lose to Argentina and beat Peru, meaning the final game, against Canada, will be key.

Chile’s Copa America squad

Goalkeepers: Claudio Bravo (Real Betis), Brayan Cortes (Colo-Colo), Gabriel Arias (Racing)

Defenders: Matias Catalan (Talleres), Mauricio Isla (Independiente), Gabriel Suazo (Toulouse), Guillermo Maripan (Monaco), Paulo Diaz (River Plate), Igor Lichnovsky (Club America), Benjamin Kuscevic (Fortaleza), Thomas Galdames (Godoy Cruz), Nicolas Fernandez (Audax Italiano)

Midfielders: Erick Pulgar (Flamengo), Marcelino Nunez (Norwich City), Rodrigo Echeverria (Huracan), Cesar Perez (Union La Calera), Diego Valdes (Club America), Esteban Pavez (Colo-Colo)

Forwards: Ben Brereton Diaz (Villarreal), Alexis Sanchez (Inter Milan), Dario Osorio (Midtjylland), Eduardo Vargas (Atletico Mineiro), Victor Davila (CSKA Moscow), Marcos Bolados (Colo-Colo), Maximiliano Guerrero (Universidad de Chile)

(Artwork: John Bradford. Photos: Getty; Nicolas Tucat/AFP, MB Media)

Jack Lang is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering football. Follow Jack on Twitter @jacklang