Ben Brereton Diaz

[Dan]

Pitch is way better than it was at Preston 😂

[bazza]

58 minutes ago, Dan said:

Pitch is way better than it was at Preston 😂

You mean at Ewood versus Preston. 

How are they doing?

[LordBaltimore]

Brereton couldnt breathe.  I think this is the first time he's been subbed for Chle.

And Medel scores as i write this!

[duckson]

Diaz off after 75 mins, was more like Brereton tbh…..hopefully he has got it out of his system and Diaz gets on the plane. 
 

Chile go 2-1 up right after Diaz is subbed. 

[roversfan99]

Not injured I hope?

I wonder if he does start on Saturday after playing at high altitude. 

[had.e.nuff]

9 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Not injured I hope?

I wonder if he does start on Saturday after playing at high altitude. 

its supposed to give you more energy that's why a lot of athletes train at altitude

[LordBaltimore]

Chile wins 2-3.  Brereton wasnt injured just left out of breath, which is normal considering how much he ran & the thin air in La Paz.  

Chile now up their chances of direct qualificarion to 3% and temporily slip up to 5th place.

[Giant]

He should be able to run around like an Olympic athlete after playing in La Paz😁

[bazza]

Good news that he's avoided injury. 

[bluebruce]

53 minutes ago, Giant said:

He should be able to run around like an Olympic athlete after playing in La Paz😁

If he's not still buggered.

[Dan]

1 hour ago, bazza said:

You mean at Ewood versus Preston. 

How are they doing?

Yes, sorry I meant against Preston ☺️

[arbitro]

7 hours ago, LordBaltimore said:

Chile wins 2-3.  Brereton wasnt injured just left out of breath, which is normal considering how much he ran & the thin air in La Paz.  

Chile now up their chances of direct qualificarion to 3% and temporily slip up to 5th place.

Thanks for the updates and all the information you post. How does this leave Chile from a qualification point of view?

[J*B]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

Thanks for the updates and all the information you post. How does this leave Chile from a qualification point of view?

And perhaps more selfishly, how many more times does he need to go to Chile before the end of May? 

[Mattyblue]

Just the March international break, Brazil away 24th, Uruguay home 29th.

We play at Reading 19th, then Coventry 2nd April. So (fixture changes aide), hopefully he won’t be missing any games.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Mattyblue

[rog of the rovers]

The Ecuador and Peru draw early this morning keeps their hopes alive, but very slim.

Chile would need to beat Brazil in Brazil AND the in from Uruguay to qualify automatically, and even then, that would probably only be good enough for the Inter Continental playoffs.

BBD at Qatar 2022 seems unlikely.

[Hasta]

Chile play Uruguay in the last game and have a better goal difference, so if they can stay within 3 points of them they have a chance. Uruguay play Peru next.  However Columbia could also get involved if they won the last 2.

[LordBaltimore]

It was an odd game yesterday.  Rain caused a 30min delay (if anyone noticed, at min 7 the ref called both team captains to the sideline to check if the teams wanted to continue playing on a swampy pitch) and almost cancelled the game.  VAR was not working in La Paz.

Brereton had a decent game but was winded by mid 2nd half and taken off around min 74.   Alexis looked like the Sánchez of old, scoring 2 great goals (now 49 goals with Chile) .  Bolivia controlled large portions of the 2nd half as the altitude took its toll on Chile.  Looked like it was in the bag at 1-3 but 2-3 made it uncomfortable & tense until the end.

Ben vs Bolivia "he left his life [on the pitch!]", ie "he gave it his all!"

 

[LordBaltimore]

Match highlights, argentine narration.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

21 minutes ago, LordBaltimore said:

It was an odd game yesterday.  Rain caused a 30min delay (if anyone noticed, at min 7 the ref called both team captains to the sideline to check if the teams wanted to continue playing on a swampy pitch) and almost cancelled the game.  VAR was not working in La Paz.

Brereton had a decent game but was winded by mid 2nd half and taken off around min 74.   Alexis looked like the Sánchez of old, scoring 2 great goals (now 49 goals with Chile) .  Bolivia controlled large portions of the 2nd half as the altitude took its toll on Chile.  Looked like it was in the bag at 1-3 but 2-3 made it uncomfortable & tense until the end.

Ben vs Bolivia "he left his life [on the pitch!]", ie "he gave it his all!"

 

Not a pitch for trying to run with the ball.

[LordBaltimore]

8 hours ago, arbitro said:

Thanks for the updates and all the information you post. How does this leave Chile from a qualification point of view?

It is still a tight race.  The teams fighting it out (Chile, Perú, Uruguay, Colombia) would be just as happy qualifying directly as the playoff, since the view from South América is that playing the Asian 5th is as good as qualifying.

Here is the current table going into the final 2 games in March.  Chile play Brazil away and end vs Uruguay at home.  

A tie vs Brazil would be considered a "win" since Chile has little hope of beating this Brazil in Brazil.  Chile's hopes rest on defeating Uruguay, with Chile having a slightly favorable goal difference at this point vs its 3 other rivals for the last spot.

Looking at Chile's qualification rivals these last 2 dates:

Colombia host Bolivia (likely COL win) then end away at Venezuela (toss up).

Perú is away vs Uruguay (likely URU win, most important game for Chile) then end at home vs Paraguay (PER favored).

Uruguay host Perú and end with Chile away.

Chile's qualification depends in large part on how their direct rivals fare the last dates.  If Chile can get 3pts and Perú loses both or merely ties at home, Chile could clinch the 5th spot....if Colombia doesnt win both its last games.  If Chile can get 4pts they would likely get the 5th spot.  Only Chile winning both games (highly unlikely) would they be guaranteed anything.

CONMEBOL qualification is always decided on the last day.  And the 2 top teams Brazil & Argentina still have a game to make up.

[USABlue]

Any word on his injury?

[only2garners]

1 hour ago, USABlue said:

Any word on his injury?

Reasonably positive - https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2022/february/15/injury-update--ben-brereton-diaz-and-daniel-ayala/

 

[rigger]

4 hours ago, USABlue said:

Any word on his injury?

With our present medical team, what usually happens is that the player is reported to have a slight strain, then a couple of days later they are out for the forseable future.

[callumrovers]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

With our present medical team, what usually happens is that the player is reported to have a slight strain, then a couple of days later they are out for the forseable future.

Someone has just messaged me this exact thing, 8 - 10 weeks…. Don’t shoot the messenger. Praying that they are wrong.

[only2garners]

21 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

Someone has just messaged me this exact thing, 8 - 10 weeks…. Don’t shoot the messenger. Praying that they are wrong.

Well the Rovers update said that they were hopeful that it was just a knock but he was having a scan - that could have come back negative.