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Peru coach Ricardo Gareca has announced a 30-man preliminary squad for September friendlies against United States and Colombia.
Following the third-place finish at the 2015 Copa America, La Blanquirroja head into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign full of confidence, and it is hardly surprising that all 23 players that took part at the tournament finals in Chile have kept their places in the squad.
On top of that, the likes of Ivan Bulos (0/0), Renato Tapia (1/0), Miguel Araujo (1/0), Edison Flores (1/0), Christopher Gonzales (5/1), Daniel Chavez (16/0) and Jhoel Herrera (4/0) were added to the preliminary roster.
And while the return of veteran defender Jhoel Herrera is seen as a major surprise, the remaining footballers added to the squad are expected to make quite an impact in years to come.
Meanwhile, MK Dons midfielder Cristian Benavente (9/1) has been overlooked once again due to the lack of first team action at club level.
Peru are scheduled to face the United States national team on September 5 at RFK Stadium in Washington before playing Colombia three days later.
Having seriously improved the national team’s profile with the impressive performance at the 2015 Copa America, La Albirroja will want to keep the rich vein of form ahead of the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
