Chile boss Ricardo Gareca has found himself being questioned yet again over his treatment of Southampton’s Ben Brereton Diaz after an incident in the clash with Bolivia.
RPP cover the situation today and how the Southampton man was left ‘crestfallen’ by being substituted by Gareca in the 35th minute of the game.
They say that Gareca has gone from ‘praise to questions’ in a short time since arriving in Chile, with this latest game no exception.
He surprised everyone by withdrawing the Southampton man just after the half hour mark to replace him with midfielder Vicente Pizarro.
The Chile coach had decided to change up his team after seeing them go behind in the 12th minute and the Southampton forward was the man who suffered. He left the field ‘crestfallen’ and ‘on the verge of crying’, and the crowd reacted badly to the decision.
His teammates tried to support him in what was obviously a difficult moment, but he gave no reaction to that and was visibly distressed.
The moment has extended a bad streak for Brereton Diaz, who is yet to score for Southampton since joining them in the summer or win a game with them and has gone 14 games without a goal for his country too.
His relationship with Gareca is already a fractured one after the Chile boss previously criticised Brereton Diaz for not speaking Spanish and we’re sure this moment won’t help repair any of that damage.
