0-0: Whistles to Berizzo, who still haven’t won in Chile

chilli and Colombia They drew goalless in the second game of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, in a match that started and ended with whistles for the Chilean coach Eduardo ‘Toto’ Berizzowho have not won since taking charge of La Roja a year and a half ago.

The game started with errors in the defense of the three proposed by Berizzo, no depth in attack, and with a Colombia that tried to exploit the pace and exchange of positions between Rafael Santos Borré and Luis Díaz, who showed why he has a permanent place in Liverpool.

In the first ten minutes, between them they generated three scoring opportunities that were not realized partly due to the poor state of the playing field in the Bryan Cortes area and partly due to the haste of the coffee forwards.

Chile’s reaction came in the 12th minute with one of the best chances of the first half: Erick Pulgar, the best in the local midfield, hit a rebound in three quarters of the field and his missile was deflected by Camilo Vargas.

Red settled down. He looked more on the wings, on the left with a sharp but failed Ben Brereton and a very tuned Matías Catalán. The Argentine full-back from Talleres, nationalized as Chilean, agreed with those who after the Uruguay game asked to sit the Moroccan of Chilean origin, Nayel Mehssatou.

The match was balanced, with a Colombia more stuck in its own area but with plenty of venom on the counterattack and a Chile driven by a voluptuous Alexis Sánchez, who was not at his best physically.

Then again Pulgar got it from the outside and especially Rodrigo Echevarría, with one of the clearest shots of the match. The Huracán midfielder, Berizzo’s new addition to the starting eleven, fired the ball onto the post from the six-yard box where Vargas was sold and the stadium was drowned out with shouts for a goal.

The second half started in the same vein, with both teams lost in the middle of the field, without stringing passes or creating scoring chances until the 57th minute, when Nestor Lorenzo shook the bench and brought on James Rodríguez.

Gradually the coffee planters took control of the ball, they began to link passes so that the Chileans ran in search of shadows, to the delight of the visiting fans, who began to shout “olé”.

In the 79th minute, a fantastic wall left Luis Sinisterra with everything to score a goal and a few minutes later Alexis put a golden ball over Maripán’s head, but although the shot hit in the Colombian net, the goal was disallowed for offside. at the request of the VAR.

Sterile carousel of changes

The carousel of changes eventually distorted the match, with neither coach achieving the superiority both teams were looking for.

Jhon Durán had another as time began to expire, and so did Diego Valdes, but he met a fantastic Vargas. However, the marker does not move. Colombia showed that it has the longer and stronger squad, and Chile that it lacks the bench to aspire to be among the best.

Colombia has 4 points in the tie and is third while Chile, with one point, is in eighth place. For the third day, next October 12, Colombia will host Uruguay and Chile will go home against Peru.

DATA SHEET

0 – Chile: Brian Cortes; Matías Catalán (Juan Delgado, min 72), Gary Medel, Guillermo Maripán, Gabriel Suazo; Erick Pulgar, Rodrigo Echeverría, Diego Valdés, Arturo Vidal (Charles Aranguiz, min 72); Ben Brereton (Alexander Aravena, min 74), Alexis Sánchez
Coach: Eduardo Berizzo
0 – Colombia: Camilo Vargas; Daniel Muñoz, Yerry Mina (Davinson Sánchez, min 22), Jhon Lucumí, Deiver Machado; Jefferson Lerma, Mateus Uribe, Jorge Carrascal (James Rodríguez, min 57); Jhon Arias (Juan Quintero, min. 70)), Luis Díaz (Luis Sinisterra min. 70) and Rafael Santos Borré (Jhon Durán min. 57)
Instructor: Néstor Lorenzo
Referee: The Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela. He warned Matías Catalán (min.38) for Chile and Jhon Arias (min. 40), Jorge Carrascal (min. 47), Luis Díaz (min. 54), Deiver Machado (min. 63), Jhon Durán (min. 88). ) for Colombia
Incidents: Match on the second date of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup United States, Canada and Mexico played at the Monumental stadium in Santiago de Chile