The international break should be a time for players to either rest and recover, or find some form for their countries. Unfortunately, one Derby County man did neither of those things.
John Eustace added to his squad sufficiently and shrewdly this summer, with Derby County making 13 new signings in the transfer window.
The Rams had three players on international duty over the last week or so, but while Ebou Adams managed to get on the scoresheet for Gambia, Ben Brereton Diaz couldn’t have had a worse outing for Chile.
The forward, who joined Derby County on loan from Southampton, will be preparing to make his debut for his new club this weekend and will be desperate to do better than he did for his country.
Ben Brereton Diaz has an awful night for Chile
Brereton Diaz was chosen to lead the line for Chile against Uruguay in the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday night, but he did not exactly cover himself in glory.
The game ended 0-0, but Brereton Diaz had three golden opportunities to break the deadlock in the second half. The problem is, he fluffed his lines completely and missed all three.
The commentators for the game couldn’t believe what they were seeing, describing it as a “bad night” for Brereton Diaz after he missed a point-blank header, sent another shot wide, and then fell over when trying to convert a low cross into the box.
This all happened within a seven-minute period just after the hour-mark in the game. He was substituted ten minutes later.
Overall, Brereton Diaz had one shot on target, two off target, and one shot blocked. He also won just one of three duels on the night, and lost possession 12 times (as per SofaScore).
Ben Brereton Diaz has a brilliant record in the Championship
While that performance might be concerning for Derby County fans, it’s worth noting that Ben Brereton Diaz does actually have a pretty solid record of goal contributions over the last few years at club level.
He registered four goals and seven assists in 17 games for Sheffield United last season, and added another six goals and one assist for the Blades in the Premier League in 2023/24.
Prior to that, Brereton Diaz bagged 14 goals and four assists for Blackburn Rovers in the Championship in 2022/23.
Over the years, he’s racked up 57 goals and 23 assists in 230 second tier appearances. That’s a goal contribution every 2.88 games, which really isn’t bad at all. Brereton Diaz may not be prolific, per se, but he’s surely going to be useful for Derby this year.
