The city of Calama is one of those places in northern Chile where you can literally reach for the stars. Located in the heart of the Atacama Desert, Calama, due to its airport, is a mandatory stop on the way to San Pedro, one of Chile’s top tourist attractions, if you come by air. Calama also has the peculiarity of being 2400 meters above sea level; the air there is as thin as the long land itself, fringed by the ever-foaming surf of the Pacific.
Which brings us to the desperate situation of the Chilean national soccer team, whose golden generation around former Bayern professional Arturo Vidal won the Copa America in 2015 and 2016 and is now probably doomed for good. “Why not play Argentina in Calama instead of the usual Santiago, historically Chile’s only World Cup qualifier?” the oldest Chilean internationals are said to have asked. “Why not make life doubly and trebly difficult for the Argentines?”
Super idea, thought the association leadership. But on Thursday the inevitable happened: Chile 1-2 Argentina. Qualifying for the World Cup, which is set to take place in a different desert this year, in Qatar, is now further away than heaven. And that felt to those Chileans gazing at the firmament on Thursday as if the stars twinkled only for others, not oneself.
At 32 degrees, the Argentines’ air conditioning was turned off – and “there was no water in the morning,” says Rodrigo De Paul
The gallop to the game was more fascinating than the game itself, and that’s saying something. There was nothing the Chileans hadn’t considered. They delivered a hyperbaric chamber to their British Stoke-born striker Benjamin Brereton in their bedroom in Britain. “Big Ben”, who usually plays for Blackburn Rovers in the English second division, should get used to the inevitable lack of oxygen. The Chileans even fixed the lawn, which is such a thing in the desert. And when the match was over, Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid) shared a few details from the compendium of psychological warfare.
The World Cup without Chile? Gary Medel has to get used to the idea after losing to Argentina.
(Foto: Pool/Getty Images)
The border controls, including the PCR test and the use of a sniffer dog, would have taken a good three hours (which is the pandemic-related standard), “we weren’t even allowed to go to the toilet,” complained De Paul. In the hotel, “the air conditioning was switched off at 32 degrees,” which meant that the sirens that wailed there were heard unfiltered, “some couldn’t sleep.” On the day of the match, a cold shower allegedly followed: “There was no water in the morning.” Chile’s Gary Medel’s reply sounded a bit like continental standard. “They should digest it quietly.” In Argentina, people are treated in a similar way.
For years, the biggest harassment for the Chileans when traveling abroad was that their respective hosts filled the minibars to bursting point, especially if Arturo Vidal, famous for ethylic excess, was to be used. There were no problems on that front this time, with the former Bayern pro missing out on red suspension. And so he only saw on TV how the sun went down over the Estadio “Zorros del Desierto” – in English: desert foxes – shimmering copper-red. And most importantly, how the Chileans’ little meanness proved counterproductive.
Chile will play the last two games against Brazil, who have already qualified, and against Uruguay
Because without their captain Lionel Messi, who stayed in Paris for rehabilitation training after a Covid disease, the Argentines were thirsty for revenge. The fact that the line judges forgot their flags and repurposed safety vests had no effect on the game, but the idea with the height did – it developed a boomerang effect. Less so with Argentina’s opening goal by Ángel Di María, he twirled the ball just wide of the left post from a good 20 yards, but especially when De Paul took aim from afar and the ball developed a strange dynamic in thin air, so that Chile’s goalkeeper Claudio Bravo made him bounce forward. Lautaro Martínez scored the 2-1 winner (34th minute), Bravo was substituted.
Earlier, Brereton had headed the interim equalizer, cementing his reputation as Chile’s hope for the future. The Chileans found this Brereton, 22, some time ago after the community managers of the video game “Football Manager” reported that he has dual citizenship thanks to his Chilean mother. He scored three goals in four qualifiers and in exchange, according to his mother, “taught a lot of Chilean vocabulary”, i.e. “endless swear words” with local color. Big Ben still gives interviews in English: “We’ll keep trying.”
Two red cards against Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker are canceled again.
(Photo: Santiago Arcos/dpa)
Only: the margin of error is minimal, the rest of the program infernal. On Tuesday we’re off to La Paz, Bolivia, at 3,500 meters above sea level. Chile will play the last two games against Brazil, who have already qualified, and against Uruguay. The “Urus” won their first game after the incumbent coach Óscar Washington Tabárez lost 1-0 in a tough game in Paraguay (goal by Luis Suárez/50.). Ecuador, on the other hand, are just one win away from claiming the third of four direct World Cup tickets that South America have in store – after a 1-1 draw with Brazil that came about in a fabulously chaotic and therefore historic game.
A new VAR record was set in the 1-1 draw between Ecuador and Brazil: two red cards against goalkeeper Alisson were annulled
In four crucial scenes, the video referee called the referee Wilmar Roldán to the TV set on the sidelines, “he spent more time in front of the screen than on the pitch,” said Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata. He recognized the 1-0 through Casemiro and the 1-1 through Félix Torres (75th) without any problems. The red card against Ecuador’s goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez (15th), who gave Cunha a kung fu kick and thus a hickey-like mark on his neck, was more difficult: the referee had sent the wrong player off after the assassination-like foul.
After that, Roldán was called to the screen by the video referee for two penalties for Ecuador; as well as two red cards against Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker, which he canceled again. The Liverpool goalkeeper is now the first goalkeeper in history since the introduction of VAR to be pardoned twice in a game by the video referee – the second time happened in added time, when the ball fell in Quito’s thin air (2,850 meters above sea level) simply stopped and he not only cleared the game machine with his fist, but also the opposing striker.
Brazil coach Tite was still annoyed: “It is unacceptable for the referee to come from fourth-placed country (Colombia) when first-placed is playing third-placed.” But even that – “the lack of sensitivity in naming the referee” – falls under the rubric: continental standard.
