Chile left out star forward Alexis Sanchez for their upcoming international friendlies at the recommendation of Premier League giants Manchester United.
Reinaldo Rueda included Barcelona recruit Arturo Vidal for the trip to the Far East, where Chile will face Japan and South Korea on September 6 and 10 respectively.
However, Chile’s all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player Sanchez was not on the list, having struggled for form and fitness at United.
Sanchez missed the shock defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion with a “little problem”, while the 29-year-old came off the bench in last week’s 3-0 loss against Tottenham.
“He is recovering but all that this trip means the suggestion was that he should not participate in these friendlies.
“Respecting that and what Alexis feels we did not take into account for this call.”
Chile, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, meet Japan in Sapporo before visiting Suwon to play South Korea.
Sánchez is a quick, creative and hard-working player with an eye for goal, who is known in particular for his energy, skill and work-rate on the pitch.
Although naturally right-footed, due to his ability with either foot, he is capable of playing anywhere along the front line, on either flank, or through the centre of the pitch: throughout his career, he has been deployed as a supporting striker, as a winger, as a false-9, and even as an attacking midfielder; he has recently also been used in a more advanced, central role, as a main striker.
A talented forward, Sánchez is gifted with excellent technical ability, agility, flair and acceleration, which enables him to dribble past opponents with feints in one on one situations, create space, and either score goals himself or set-up his teammates. Being an accurate striker of the ball, he is also effective from set-pieces.