“Paolo Guerrero is a star of South American football. His presence requires special attention for Chile” | INTERVIEW

The past generation – my father’s – enjoyed what for many was the best era of Peruvian football. The Meléndez, Chumpitaz, Sotil, Oblitas, Cueto, Cubillas and more, many more, dazzled everyone. But they also suffered harsh blows, such as being left out of the Mexico 86 World Cup in the playoffs at the hands of Chile. And one of the protagonists of those two games, Jorge Aravena, scorer of two goals in the first leg and the goal that silenced the National stadium, spoke with Deporte Total in the preview of the Pacific Classic to be played this Thursday in Santiago for the 2026 Qualifiers.

-He is remembered for the goals that left Peru without qualifying for the Mexico 86 World Cup. Do you experience the Peru-Chile with a special seasoning?

I have very beautiful and wonderful memories of having played against exceptional Peruvian soccer players. Obviously the classics are special, but when you are a professional you take all the games equally.

-Who is the Peruvian soccer player that surprised you the most in the Peru-Chile?

I was lucky to play a lot against Julio César Uribe. With the national team and then in Colombia. He played for América de Cali and I played for Deportivo Cali. So I had a lot to face him. Also with Franco Navarro. I was Jorge Olaechea’s partner. But the player who caught my attention the most and I always admired him is César Cueto. It was a delicacy to watch him play. He was an exceptional footballer. I think the only thing César lacked was making the ball talk.

-What do you remember about those two classics for the Mexico 86 playoffs?

We won 4-2 in the first leg, played in Santiago. It was a very complicated match because Peru had high-class players. The rematch was at the National Stadium in Lima. It was an intensely played match, of great quality on the part of both teams. I must admit that Peru surpassed us in possession of the ball and field positioning, but halfway through the second half they managed to score the 1-0 and with that they became more complicated because they had to score four goals to leave us out.

-In the playoffs, Chile leaves Peru without a chance, but loses to Paraguay. Does it still hurt not having gone to the World Cup?

We could have done more, but Paraguay beat us in the first leg, which was played at the Defensores del Chaco. In the return I missed a penalty, well Gato Fernández saved it, and in the end we were eliminated. An enormous sadness. In my case, the only thing I was missing as a footballer was going to a World Cup.

-This Thursday, Juan Reynoso will return to Santiago after the match they played for Francia 98, with him as a soccer player. That time, Peru experienced a very hostile environment in Santiago. What to say to the fan before this type of match?

What must absolutely prevail on all sides is absolute respect for the sport. It is a soccer match between two teams that are geographically neighbors, but it is nothing more than a soccer match. Whoever wins, congratulations; and whoever loses must continue working.

-Could the moment that Chile is experiencing, with a point in the Qualifiers and still stretching the golden generation, make Peru excited about winning for the first time in Santiago in the Qualifiers?

I hope not. But I must admit that the golden generation we had is already over. I was one of Sampaoli’s greatest critics at the time when he was achieving such wonderful results that our team gave us in the sense that he never worried about looking for alternatives for the players of the golden generation because at some point it was going to happen. what is happening now. It wasn’t done and now our team is suffering from that. We don’t have players who allow us to get excited about qualifying for the World Cup.

-Is the golden generation harming Chile?

They will no longer have the performance that we all expect from the players of the golden generation due to a logical question of age. They are not what they were before.

-Is Eduardo Berizzo the ideal coach for Chile to return to the World Cup?

When they hired him they asked me the same thing and I said that I had the credit of having worked with Marcelo Bielsa and having trained the golden generation. He was given the advantage of having that credit and taking advantage of it. To this day he has not taken advantage of it.

-Do you still have that credit?

The best game, from my perspective, that my team has played under the command of Berizzo was against Colombia, which we tied in Santiago. But about the rest, it is true that we have not shown much.

-What are the defects of this Chile that perhaps Peru could take advantage of to do harm?

We do not have a base selection, as was the case years ago. Today we are going to see who is going to play, what the development will be. It is a problem that Peru is also having.

-Why is generational change so difficult for Chile? The same thing happens in Peru

Yes, the change is costing us a lot. Eight years ago or so I harshly criticized Sampaoli because he was not worrying about the future of Chilean football. He was getting very good results, which made us all happy, but today we are where we should never have been if he had worked thinking about finding new alternatives for the national team.

-You came to coach Peru in 2016. How did you see the league at that time compared to the Chilean one?

Here in Chile, the vast majority of clubs have important infrastructure to be able to work primarily with youth football. I was in Cutervo, a very small city. We had the field to train on, which was made of synthetic grass, and nothing else. There was no level of formative football to bring out players. When I got there and spoke with the president, I told him that he needed five or six preparation games to watch the players. We didn’t play a single game. I would very much like to return because Peru has been characterized by having players with wonderful technique and well-worked, I think they perform very well.

-What do you think of Paolo Guerrero, a possible starting 9 in the game and who will play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana?

It’s a ju-ga-do-ra-zo! Paolo is a star of South American football who, despite his age, has football quality. He is brave to play, he never gives up, he has spectacular technique, he scores goals. He is a great player. Peru has good players, but Guerrero requires special attention.

-How much does Chile lose without Arturo Vidal?

I try to be as realistic as possible. I think that the players of the Chilean golden generation are no longer there to compete in high performance. That’s why I think the absence won’t affect it.

-What do you think of the new trend in football of looking for players born outside but with roots in the country? Chile has Brereton and Peru has Lapadula, Ormeño and Sonne, for example…

Players who have ancestry, blood of the country they are going to represent, seem very good to me. What I don’t like are the nationalized ones. But players like those mentioned have the blood of the country they are going to represent in their veins.