- Title: Chile boss says Sanchez fit to play against Germany
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: KAZAN, RUSSIA (JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) CHILE TEAM TRAINING IN KAZAN ARENA CHILE COACH JUAN ANTONIO PIZZI AND ASSISTANT COACHES TALKING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WARMING UP AND TRAINING MIDFIELDER ARTURO VIDAL TRAINING WITH TEAM MATES PIZZI AND OTHER ASSISTANT COACHES KEEPER CLAUDIO BRAVO WARMING UP TRAINING UNDERWAY BRAVO TRAINING PIZZI PLAYING WITH BALL AS SQUAD TRAINS ON PITCH VARIOUS OF TRAINING PIZZI AND VIDAL BEING SEATED AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHILE COACH, JUAN ANTONIO PIZZI, SAYING: "I don't know if I want to talk of change, but we will of course consider who we are playing against. We will try to find their weakness, so that we make it really difficult for them. I think all teams have strengths and weaknesses and we need to find a way through so that we are a real threat. And of course we need to consider that they are really good attacking as well." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHILE COACH, JUAN ANTONIO PIZZI, SAYING: "Alexis (Sanchez) is available and it's true that after the game against Cameroon he showed that he could play without any problems. He finished even better than he started, he recovered over a couple of days, but he trained with his colleagues, he didn't have any pain. So the doctors and the physios - the ones who decide whether the players can play or not - and they have said that he is ok, that he is available. He can play, so we expect that tomorrow he can play a great game." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHILE MIDFIELDER, ARTURO VIDAL, SAYING: "FIFA ranking will not mean anything in tomorrow's game. I think each game is unique and we don't care so much about the ranking. I think the ranking is more for people who don't play soccer, but I think that tomorrow's match and the next match will be unique in every single case. So we need to be focused on improving every single day." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHILE MIDFIELDER, ARTURO VIDAL, SAYING (ASKED IF THE CHILE TEAM IS AT ITS GOLDEN AGE AND ITS ONLY CHANCE TO WIN A TOURNAMENT): "I hope not. I hope I will be able to play with my national team for many, many years to come, but it is true that right now we can achieve a lot, we can win this tournament, we can qualify for the World Cup, we can fight to win the World Cup and we still have Copa America. We need to fight, but we have good players, we have a good coach. We have everything we need to keep winning with the national team and I hope I will be able to win for many years to come, until I am 40 at least." MEDIA PIZZI AND VIDAL LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 21:08
- Keywords: Russian Confederations Cup Chile Germany training Vidal Pizzi
- Location: KAZAN, RUSSIA
- City: KAZAN, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0016M82HBZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Chile striker Alexis Sanchez is fit to play against Germany on Thursday (June 22) in their second Confederations Cup Group B match, coach Juan Antonio Pizzi has said.
Pizzi said World Cup winners Germany would be tough opponents but Chile planned to be a "real threat" to them on the pitch.
Chile's victory against Cameroon on Sunday (June 18) gave them a great start to their maiden Confederations Cup campaign, after qualifying by defending their Copa America title in 2016.
Asked about Chile and Germany being favourites in the tournament, midfielder Arturo Vidal said he didn't pay any attention to FIFA rankings.
"I think the ranking is more for people who don't play soccer, but I think that tomorrow's match and the next match will be unique in every single case," said Vidal in a news conference on Wednesday (June 21) ahead of the game in Russia's Kazan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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