World Cup news: Best XI of players who won’t be in Russia
By Kian Long
Claudio Bravo – Chile
Do you remember when I mentioned the ‘nightmare in South America’? Well, the Chilean sweeper keeper had first-hand experience of this.
Many people expected Chile to breeze through their qualifying stages, after being crowned champions of South America for two consecutive years and reaching the final of the Confederations Cup, but it wasn’t to be for La Roja.
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It’s not been the best start to Claudio Bravo’s 2017/18 campaign. Many were expecting his side to qualify for the World Cup but they failed, but he’s also had a domestic catastrophe with Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s team have been rampant at the start of this season, scoring 39 in just 12 games this season while conceding only 6 goals in this time. Most of that has been thanks to new goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, who looks to have cemented himself a place ahead of Claudio Bravo.
Bravo has only made 2 appearances so far this term, 90 minutes in the League Cup and 45 minutes against Liverpool after Ederson got injured at the expense of Sadio Mane.
He is coming in to the latter stages of his career now, aging at 34 years old. It’s expected for him to start deteriorating, but it’s also important he sees off his career with a bang.
Understandably, he won’t get much playing time under Pep Guardiola due to Ederson’s good form, but a summer of World Cup action would have done the Chile captain some good. This may have been his last ever World Cup, which is why it’s a shame that Chile’s joint most capped player won’t feature in it.