SANTIAGO – Soccer star Alexis Sanchez has been called up for Chile’s upcoming qualifiers against Paraguay and Bolivia, despite a recent injury.
Sanchez, whose future at Arsenal has been a talking point for most of the year, was ruled out of the Gunners’ Premier League opener with Leicester last week due to an abdominal strain, with Arsene Wenger stating his star forward was likely to be “out for a while.”
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However Chile, who will re-open their qualifying campaign on Aug. 31 against Paraguay, have seen fit to include the former Barcelona and Udinese man in their squad.
“The information we have is that he is available,” says coach Antonio Pizzi, adding “He will not have problems getting to the qualifying date.”
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Pizzi’s initial list of 19 players also includes Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal and Manchester City’s Claudio Bravo, who have been stalwarts on the teams that brought the country Copa America glory in 2015 and 2016.
Chile are one point ahead of fifth-placed Argentina in the CONMEBOL standings with four matches to play.
