Chile does not rule out Brereton's presence in Brazil

SANTIAGO (AP) — Chile coach Martín Lasarte did not rule out the presence of striker Ben Brereton on Tuesday for the match against leader Brazil and in which “Roja” will play life in the World Cup qualifiers.

Brereton, a nationalized British man, has become one of the essential players in Lasarte. Since making his debut for the Chilean national team last year, he has scored three goals for the playoffs. However, his participation in the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro is in doubt because he is recovering from an ankle injury he suffered last February 14 playing for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League.

“Ben is not ruled out, we will do a more thorough test today and another tomorrow,” Lasarte said at a press conference. “What happens will define whether it is there or not. One hundred percent will not be there because they have few training sessions after the injury.”

Lasarte added that in Monday's training Brereton did a differentiated job, “but he worked well, without problems.”

Chile is sixth in the South American qualifiers with 19 points, three points behind Uruguay and two from Peru, who occupy fourth and fifth place on the ladder. The first four teams qualify directly and the fifth will play a playoff against one from Asia.

Regarding Brazil, Lasarte said “getting points from Brazil is something impossible in history, so getting a point is not bad”. He added that “the statistics are until they break, that is football, that's what we are going to look for... failure does not pass through my head”.

“It is clear that we cannot have a timorous match,” he said. “As far as we can, we must make an equal match... I repeat, within what we can. There's a fine line between this and suicide.”

While Brereton's performance remains in doubt, Lasarte replaced striker Luis Jiménez (Palestino) on the eve with injury by fellow attacker Ronnie Fernández (Universidad de Chile). But he presented with a flu and cited Ivan Morales (Cruz Azul of Mexico) as an emergency.