Midfielders
It’s easy to imagine the smile that breaks across Pizzi’s face as he selects the midfielders for his starting lineup. Chile are blessed with a number of central midfield options and have barely been affected by midfield legend David Pizarro retiring from international football.
The defensive midfield role ought to be occupied by the experienced Marcelo Diaz, who has shone for Celta Vigo after joining them in January as a replacement for Augusto Fernandez, propelling the club to a finish in the European places. Francisco Silva and Erick Bulgar, both also comfortable in the centre-back roles, can provide alternate options in this role for Pizzi.
Chile’s bonafide superstar, Arturo Vidal, is a shoe-in for the box-to-box role, having scored 7 goals and assisted 12 in 48 appearances for Bayern Munich. However, with Pizzi favouring a midfield three without a proper central attacking midfielder, Vidal might be left free to push higher up the pitch and assist the attack, much like he did in the 2015 Copa America.
Charles Aranguiz suffered a terrible blow to his career moments after he signed for Bayer Leverkusen last summer, spending most of the season out with an Achilles injury. However, the Chilean returned to the Germans’ lineup in April and ended the season in style with a couple of goals. Thus, he should be fresh enough to star for Chile and function as their primary playmaker in midfield, even though he prefers to sit deep and conduct play, much like Pablo Hernandez.
Matias Fernandes is a fantastic attacking option from the bench if Pizzi’s Chilean side are chasing the game, although Orellana could also play in the attacking midfield role.
