Siren song: Chile drags Argentina to the driest place in the world

La Rucha will host the World Cup qualifier in the Atacama Desert (Fri, 2:15, Sport1).

And the South American champion may encounter one of the most stressful phenomena in the world of football: the siren of desert foxes

Walla!

sport

27/01/2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022, 6:30 p.m.

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Summary: Watch the goal of Argentina star Lionel Messi against Chile (Sport 1)

More than 1,500 kilometers from the capital Santiago, the Chilean team will host the Argentina team for a crucial match for them in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers (between Thursday and Friday, 2:15, Sport1).

La Rucha is ranked sixth, a touching distance from fourth place which is worth a ticket to the tournament and from fifth place which gives a place in the playoffs.

La Rucha regularly hosts its games at the Estadio Nacional in the capital, but this time decided to drag the South American champion to the famous Atacama Desert in the north of the country, the arid desert in the world.

In an area known for the largest copper mines in the world.

And that might turn out to be a pretty interesting experience.

Chile will host Argentina at the Soros del Desiarto (Desert Fox Stadium) in the city of Clam and not by chance.

Under Corona's days and various restrictions, the Estadio Nacional could not be filled with about 48,000 spectators and the effect of the partisan crowd in Santiago fades.

In Klama the stadium is small, the stands are close to the pitch and 7,259 spectators will create a homey atmosphere even though more than 5,000 seats will be left empty.

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In Chile, people are building on the heights in the mountains (Photo: GettyImages, Pool)

But it's not just the compactness.

Chile is dragging Argentina (who will appear in the missing squad, without Lionel Messi and others) to the Atacama desert also because of the height.

Infinite words have already been written about the advantage of Bolivia and Ecuador in the home games thanks to the fact that their players are used to the altitude conditions and in Chile they have decided they want to too.

The match against Argentina will take place at an altitude of 2,260 meters above sea level and the host hopes it will stand to her credit.

The Chilean squad has quite a few players from the Mexican league who are used to playing at heights and in any case until the game, there will be seven full training sessions in the city.

Argentina, on the other hand, will hold only two training sessions.

Ben Burton, who plays for Blackburn, received an early release from the English team and arrived in Klama a few days ago, to get used to the thin mountain air in the city of miners.

Another reason for the Chileans' choice is that four days after the game against Argentina, La Rucha will be hosted in the high La Paz, at the stadium where Bolivia has collected 13 of the last 15 points.

This time Coach Martin LaSarta's players will arrive after a few days in the mountains and it will help them.

The desert fox siren (turn down the volume before watching)

And when it comes to football in Kalama, it's impossible without the siren. For decades local Kubarloa fans have been sounding a terrible siren before team games and sometimes during them as well. This stressful tradition began in the late 1970s and continues to this day.

According to the story, in the past there was a bell at the local stadium where they would ring before the game started. One day the club leaders arrived at the stadium and discovered that the bell had been stolen. The rumor spread and at the fire station in the city they offered one of the familiar fans of Cobarloa to borrow a device that produces a siren noise.

Cobarloa won the first game with the siren and the matter became a tradition. "The siren represents the copper miners, it's a sign of danger," said a local journalist. "They are in danger. It had a psychological effect."

Will the famous howl be heard against Argentina as well?

We'll wait and see.

"It would be nice to hear the siren," said stadium director Diego Rojas, "it's part of the stadium's DNA and part of the folklore of Chilean football. But it depends on the association."

• 2022 World Cup Qualifiers - South America

  Group	Games	Victories	draw	Losses	Gates	Points
  1	Brazil	13	11	2	0	4-27	35
  2	Argentina	13	8	5	0	6-20	29
  3	Ecuador	14	7	2	5	13-23	23
  4	Colombia	14	3	8	3	17-16	17
  5	Peru	14	5	2	7	20-15	17
  6	Chile	14	4	4	6	16-15	16
  7	Uruguay	14	4	4	6	21-14	16
  8	Bolivia	14	4	3	7	28-20	15
  9	Paraguay	14	2	7	5	18-9	13
  10	Venezuela	14	2	1	11	25-9	7

15th round World Cup qualifiers in South America:

Ecuador - Brazil

Paraguay - Uruguay

Chile - Argentina

Colombia - Peru

Venezuela - Bolivia

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