Monday, october 23nd, 2023.- The Chilean men's football team achieved a narrow victory in their debut in Group A of the 2023 Pan American Games.

The local team, led by Argentine coach Eduardo Berizzo, defeated Mexico 1-0 at the Sausalito Stadium in Viña del Mar, a venue located 120 kilometers from Santiago.

In the first half, the Chilean team displayed good gameplay. In fact, they breached the Mexican defense within eight minutes, but Alexander Aravena's goal was disallowed for offside.

As the game progressed, Mexico began to find their footing on the Sausalito pitch but failed to threaten the goal guarded by Brayan Cortés.

La Roja responded with long passes down the wings, starting to pose a threat to the Mexican team. This led to Maximiliano Guerrero opening the scoring for Chile at the 28th minute, following a combination with Damián Pizarro.

With the opening goal, the local team kept control of the game and went after the goal defended by Fernando Tapia.

In the second half, Damián Pizarro had two opportunities to increase the score (60 and 64 minutes), but goalkeeper Tapia made crucial saves. Another close chance for Chile came at the 65th minute with a free-kick by César Pérez that hit the crossbar.

The final 20 minutes saw more of a physical battle than fluid gameplay, with neither team posing a significant threat to the opposing goal. La Roja held on to secure their first three points in the group.

One notable debut for the Chilean national team in the Pan American Games was Vicente Pizarro, the son of Chile's current Minister of Sports, Jaime Pizarro, who was in attendance at the Viña del Mar stadium.

Chile's next match in Group A will be on Thursday, October 26th, where they will face Uruguay at 6:00 p.m. local time at the Elías Figueroa Stadium in Valparaíso. While, on the same day and at the same venue, Mexico will play at 1:00 p.m. local time against the Dominican Republic.

In another match of the day, in Group B, Brazil had a hard-fought debut and narrowly defeated the United States. The only goal of the match was scored by Matheus Miranda in the 86th minute.

Written by Pedro Marín - Nicolás Reyes; translated by Andrés Castro / Photosport
Photo by Carlos Succo/Santiago 2023 / Photosport