“The mark of a star player” – Crystal Palace hype building, time for Sage to give him a chance

Crystal Palace are still waiting to see the best of Darío Osorio, but the excitement around their summer signing is building again in Chile.

Osorio hasn’t yet been given much of a chance to establish himself under Pierre Sage. On international duty, though, he’s provided another reminder of why Palace invested in him.

The 22-year-old helped Chile beat Mexico 2-0, setting up Vicente Pizarro for the second goal.

Fair to say it wasn’t an outstanding performance from start to finish. But one moment was enough to get Chile legend Iván Zamorano very excited.

‘This kid is a star’

RedGol highlights Zamorano’s reaction during his coverage of the game.

In the second half, Osorio shaped as though he was going to shoot from outside the box with his left foot. Instead, he waited for Pizarro’s run and slipped a clever pass through to him. Pizarro did the rest.

“What Darío Osorio does is the mark of a star player,” Zamorano said. “Maybe he didn’t appear that much in the game, but these are the plays where you say: this kid is a star.”

Zamorano was particularly impressed by the deception involved.

“He’s going to shoot and… everyone thinks he’s going to shoot, but he plays the pass to Pizarro,” he added.

It was really a lovely bit of awareness from the Palace winger.

Hola, me llamó Darío Osorio y soy el último crack del fútbol chileno…
#LaRojaxMega https://t.co/tiP44Yyxxa

— Ricardo Pinto (@pintoperiodista) October 7, 2026

Time for Palace to see a little more

That praise carries some weight in Chile. Zamorano knows all about attacking talent at the highest level after his spells with Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

He’s also been one of those backing Osorio since his move to Palace. Shortly after the transfer, he said the winger was taking the “right path” in his career… Now he’s calling him a star player.

There’s obviously still a long way to go before Palace supporters can make that kind of judgement themselves.

Osorio hasn’t had enough football in England to really show what he can do for the Eagles yet. Perhaps it’s now time for Sage to give him a proper run.