santiago. Chile manager Ricardo Gareca believes Friday's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Peru will be a new start for his team.
Chile are currently last in the 10team South American qualifying group and will have to win the upcoming match at any cost to keep alive their hopes of a place in the World Cup 2026 to be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
“This is an important time and we have to focus on winning. I know who we are playing for and we all know that. We have to get results, we are in a very challenging situation,” Gareca told reporters on Wednesday. And Peru is also like that.”
Chile currently have just five points from 10 qualifier matches and are one point behind ninthplaced Peru.
According to Xinhua news agency, the match will be Gareca's first visit to Lima as a manager, as he completes his sevenyear tenure with the Peru national team in July 2022.
Another major reshuffle will see the return of midfielder Arturo Vidal to La Roja's national team after a 14month absence.
“We believe it's a good moment for them to come back, given everything that's happened,” Gareca said.
The Argentina coach said his first meeting with Vidal was normal, even though Vidal has harshly criticized Gareca on social media over the past year.
“We were able to talk and we both agreed that the national team came above everything else,” he said.
The top six teams from the South American group will qualify directly for the World Cup 2026, while the seventhplaced team will advance to the intercontinental playoff.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.