While yours truly was sleeping, things in Chile got awfully hot. Yesterday, the news broke that national team coach Claudio Borghi suspended five players - Arturo Vidal, Jean Beausejour, Jorge Valdivia, Gonzalo Jara and Carlos Carmona- after they had violated curfew. The five were given permission to attend a baptism hosted by Valdivia's family, but returned to training camp 45 minutes late. With Chile already struggling with player discipline, Borghi decided to make a statement and send all five players home.
Suspended Chile Players Protest Claudio Borghi’s Punishment
Soon, all kinds of stories came flooding forth: The players had been photographed at a club. The players had been drunk when returning to the training base. Other players, including Humberto Sauzo and Claudio Bravo, lectured them on their behavior. Valdivia threw a punch at teammate Gary Medel.
The players, of course, have fired back at the reports coming out of Chile, and at their coach. The five did apologize to the fans, but also hit out at Borghi, calling him a liar and unfair. Their side of the story is that they did come in late, and they had drank a little bit, and that they should not be punished so harshly.
While Jara is injured and Beausejour suspended for the match against Uruguay, both Vidal and Valdivia were projected to start. With the news that Alexis Sanchez has re-injured himself, things are looking very bad for Chile.
Special thanks to Juan Arango for tweeting the Chile press conference.
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