Image Courtesy: The Athletic
Due to a calf injury, star forward Alexis Sanchez will not go to Brazil with the rest of the Chile side and will miss at least the Copa America group stage. 32-year-old Sanchez noticed muscular tightness in a calf following a training session, according to a statement released by Chile’s national team on Saturday. It did not provide any other information.
“The recovery time goes beyond the Copa America group stage, so the athlete will remain in Chile with the medical staff of the national team,” the statement said.
Not having Alexis Sanchez by their side will make a huge difference for Chile’s team. He is an important player for Chile national team who leads the attack and scores goals. He looked in good form in World Cup Qualifiers.
Chile will play Argentina in their first encounter of the tournament on Monday at the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
On Sunday, Brazil and Venezuela will kick off the Copa America at the Mane Garrincha stadium in Brasilia. Due to the country’s horrific Covid-19 stats — more than 480,000 people have died from the disease in Brazil — there will be no fans allowed to watch the matches.
The Copa America teams are split into two groups each consisting of five teams. Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and Uruguay are in Group A. Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru, and host Brazil are in Group B.
The best four teams from each group will go to the knockout stage of the tournament.