The national team returns to a venue they have not visited since South Africa’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
La Roja returns to the Monumental stadium in Lima after 15 years. On March 29, 2009, the Chilean team traveled to Peru to the eastern zone of the neighboring country’s capital. Since then, all matches have taken place at the National Stadium. Before too. The only memory goes back more than a decade and with Marcelo Bielsa as Chile coach. The Bicolor team’s numbers in this stronghold are not favorable. In total, those of Rimac accumulate a performance of 46.67 percent being local to the Coliseum of the Universitario de Deportes.
In the match valid for the Qualifiers for South Africa 2010, the National Team was composed of Claudio Bravo; Mauricio Isla, Gonzalo Jara, Waldo Ponce, Roberto Cereceda; Carlos Carmona, Jean Beauséjour; Matías Fernández; Alexis Sánchez, Humberto Suazo and Mark González. It was a 3-1 win for everyone’s team. Pablo Contreras, Rodrigo Tello and Marco Estrada entered the complement. The goals were the work of Sánchez (2′), Suazo (32′) and Fernández (70′). During these qualifications, Chupete, still active in football, today at San Luis de Quillota, was the top scorer, with 10 goals.
“Chile are second after a historic 3-1 victory in Peru and move closer to the World Cup in South Africa,” it headlined. The Third , after the victory of the Reds. Ultimately, Bielsa’s team qualified for the world event in second place in the standings, behind Brazil.
Uneven performance
The first time that Peru was local to the Monumental was on June 2, 2001, against Ecuador, for the qualifiers towards Korea-Japan. The victory went to the visiting team by 1-2. The first Peruvian victory only came in 2007, in a friendly match against Bolivia. On points, they managed to beat Venezuela in 2008 by the minimum score. During the global event held in Africa, they played several duels in this fortress. Then his presentations diminished.
Between 2009 and 2017, they did not play any matches in this venue. On the way to Russia 2018, they beat Bolivia (2-1). Now, on their way to the United States, Mexico and Canada 2026, they return. However, this return is obligatory. The match coincides with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum taking place in Lima and with some protests in the city center.
On the part of the Peruvian team, they try to minimize the change at home. “I still don’t understand why we don’t play at Nacional, but we play in a big stadium like this. We must respect the locality. I read that it would be complete. It’s something very important for us and nothing, we play at home,” said striker Gianluca Lapadula.
Source: Latercera
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