The Chilean team fell today in a penalty shootout against Ghana, which it could not overcome despite playing during the final stretch with two more players, and left without triumphs of its Asian friendly tour.
In the match played in Osaka for the third place of the Kirin Cup, the new Red of Eduardo Berizzo again showed that he has a lot of work ahead, after falling in the previous two matches by identical result against South Korea and Tunisia (2-0).
Berizzo, who had announced changes to refresh the team, came out with a very different eleven than seen in the previous two matches, in which the absence of Gary Medel in the midfield stood out, whose functions of pressure and recovery ahead of the defense of three central defenders were assumed by Mehssatou.
Opazo and Ibacache completed the defensive line as laners, and in the center of the field Alarcón and Galdames divided the creation. Brereton Díaz repeated as one of the offensive references of the team, accompanied on this occasion by Diego Valencia, while Ronnie Fernández and Joaquín Montecinos, starters in the previous friendly, remained on the bench.
In the opening stretch of the match, Ghana bothered with their physical display and caused some set-piece scare. In the 9th minute, Issahaku fired a strong shot from outside the area that forced Lopez to work hard. Chile had their first approach in the 16th minute with a deep pass that Brereton Díaz could not reach.
La Roja, although they had less of the ball than the Africans, linked some good minutes of combinative play, and had a good opportunity after a play on the right of Opazo that ended up finishing soft Valencia.
The Universidad Católica striker had another chance in a header that was deflected away from one of the many fouls committed by both teams, including three sanctioned with yellow by the referee, during a blocked first half.
Just at the beginning of the second half, Benjamin Tetteh was able to overtake the “black stars” with a shot to the crossbar after turning inside the area, and later he crashed another header into the stick from a corner.
Brereton Diaz also had a good chance with a cross shot that went near the right post defended by Nurudeen, after one of the few plays that managed to weave a thick Red in attack.
Ghana, who have managed to pass for the World Cup in Qatar, were left with 10 in the 21st minute for a red to Aidu Seidu, sent off after the referee reviewed in the VAR a play in which he raised his leg excessively and hit Galdames in the stomach.
With Medel on the field and in numerical superiority, Berizzo’s team went for the match and saw their goal further facilitated when another Ghanaian player was sent off in the 78th minute for double yellow, this time Mubarak Wakaso, apparently for protests to the Japanese referee.
Berizzo gave entry to Eugenio Mena, Dario Osorio and Ronnie Fernandez in the final stretch, in which the Chileans bottled their rival in the area but remained without offensive clairvoyance despite playing against nine. Alarcón, with a shot from the front, had one of the few clear opportunities.
In the last breath, Chile was even able to concede a goal on a Kudus Mohammed shot cleared by Perez, so regulation time ended with the score at 0 and the match had to decide the penalties.
From eleven meters, only Ronnie Fernández converted in the first throw, while the failures of Alarcón, Brereton and Medel made the winner of a Ghana that fulfilled in its three shots.
La Roja thus leaves with a poor balance of its Asian tour, during which fifa’s decision to close the procedure initiated against Ecuador in the case of Byron Castillo was also known, which buried the Chilean hopes of being able to be in Qatar.
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