Summary: Chile - Peru 0:2/Sport1
The story of Ben Brereton's call-up to the Chile national team was very unusual, and also the reason for his removal from the squad that was published a few days ago, is quite rare.
Brereton was born and raised in England and also played for the local youth team in 2017-2018.
In September 2020, a scout for the popular computer game "Football Manager", named Mark Hitchen, came across a Blackburn game plan where Brarton played, and there he told that his mother was born in Chile.
Hitchen was quick to update the information on FM when he added to Brereton a section of "second citizenship: Chile" and the rest is hysteria and history.
The vast majority of football fans in Chile had not heard of the striker before, but the computer game introduced thousands of them to him.
One of them started the hashtag #BreretonALaRoja (Brereton for the Chilean national team) and it caught on.
The local media encountered the buzz on social media and began to show interest.
Within a few days, there was no longer a self-respecting sports website or newspaper, that did not publish any item about him.
Suddenly Chile found a striker in the English Blackburn.
Brereton was invited to La Rocha, replied in the affirmative and added "Dias" to his surname - like his mother's surname.
In his second game in the team's uniform, he scored a winning goal against Bolivia in the Copa America.
Then he continued to score in the World Cup qualifiers and became one of the fans' favorites - who appreciated his fighting spirit and uncompromising investment.
Even half a season in Spain didn't help in the meantime.
Brereton/GettyImages, Pool
Brereton made 27 appearances for Chile, under Martín Lasarte, Eduardo Brisso and interim coach Nicolas Córdoba.
Everyone summoned him in the last two and a half years, until Ricardo Garca arrived.
The veteran Argentine signed at the end of January and a few days ago announced the first squad of his tenure, for the friendly matches against Albania and France.
Brereton remains out, although Chile's squad is not loaded with stars.
"I want him to learn Spanish," explained Garca, "it's an important thing. He was invited to the squad for the first Copa America two years ago and he had enough time to learn Spanish. I told him personally that I want him to learn, for me it's a crucial thing in everything to do with communication - with the players The others, with the coaching staff, with the people around, with the media."
Brereton could accelerate his learning process in the first half of this season.
In the summer he moved to Villarreal after four successful seasons at Blackburn, but in Spain his progress stalled - and he didn't learn Spanish either.
In January he was loaned to Sheffield United and since then he has scored two goals in four Premier League games.
More on the same topic:
Chile national team
Ricardo Garca
Ben Brereton