Sweden vs Chile 25/03/18

28 March 2018

After a successful World Cup Qualifier campaign, and an unexpected and rather impressive elimination of Italy in the playoff thanks to Jakob Johansson’s goal in the first leg, Sweden will host Chile at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, which is going to be their third friendly match ahead of the World Cup. The Blue-Yellow have beaten Denmark by one goal to nil earlier this year after a 1-1 draw against Estonia, while Chile are yet to play a match in 2018. The Red One won’t travel to Russia following a disastrous 3-0 defeat to Brasil in the last game of qualification that enabled Peru to move ahead of them and take the sixth place and secure the playoff. Two sides have only played against each other once in the past, in a friendly match back in 2006 that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sweden’s biggest star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, will skip the encounter after announcing his retirement from international football, but the head coach, Janne Andersson, has included Al Ain striker, Marcus Berg, to replace Manchester United hotshot. Albin Ekdal, who has suffered an injury will also be out of the squad along with the goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who has undergone shoulder surgery. Reinaldo Rueda has decided to give a chance to talented teenagers from the domestic championship, as Diego Cayupil, Matias Sepulveda, and David Henriquez are all expected to make their debut for the national team. Alexis Sanchez, Mauricio Isla, Eduardo Vargas, and Arturo Vidal have been left out of the team.