Peru’s national team coach Ricardo Gareca claims that there are no issues surrounding the cancellation of a friendly match with Chile. It was expected that Peru would conclude 2019 with a friendly match against Chile at home. This was supposed to take place just a few days after the friendly against Colombia. However, a unanimous decision has been taken to scrap this game so that the team will conclude the campaign with a 1-0 loss against Colombia. Alfredo Morelos came up with a late goal in such a way that Peru were not able to react.
However, the team has achieved some big successes in recent months. After beating Chile 3-0 back in July, Peru managed to create a major shock in world football after overcoming Brazil with a 1-0 win back in September. Recent form for the team, however, has not been so great and the loss against Colombia is a testament to this status. Ironically, the win over Brazil in September is the only success for team in the last six games. It was a surprise that Peru did not try to find a replacement once Chile pulled out of the friendly. The lack of a friendly match would mean good news for some of the established players within the national team, since they could do with some rest.
“They understood that it was not ideal to play it and we respect the decision they made. We prefer to close the season in this way. It was not good to lower that level of expectation, always respecting all the selections,” said Ricardo Gareca after announcing cancellation of the friendly with Chile. Peru will be shifting most of their attention towards the World Cup qualification games for South American teams. Peru created history by featuring at the World Cup in 2018 – for the first time since 1982.