Chile begin Copa America preparations with friendlies

Top Chilean players such as Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and captain Claudio Bravo will return to the national soccer team to begin training for the 2016 Centennial Copa America to be held in the United States, the international media reported.

According to Cuban news agency Prensa Latina on Thursday, as part of the training for the continental tournament, the Chilean national soccer team will play two friendly matches in the next weeks, reports Xinhua.

The first will be on May 27 against Jamaica at Chilean resort of Vina del Mar. The second will be against Mexico at San Diego, United States.

The Chilean squad, led by coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, has a preliminary list of 40 players which will be reduced to 23 by May 23.

The 2016 Centennial Copa America will be held in 10 cities of the U.S. from June 3-26. Chile will debut against Argentina on June 6 at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, California in group D which also includes Panama and Bolivia.

In the previous edition of the regional tournament, Chile defeated Argentina in July 2015.

The most difficult group seems to be Group A including United States, Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay.

Also, Group B might be complicated. This group includes Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Haiti.

Group C includes Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Jamaica.

--IANS

ajb/vm