Sao Paulo: Juan Antonio Pizzi has confirmed he will stand down as Chile coach, after his team were beaten 3-0 by Brazil to miss out on qualification for the 2018 World Cup finals.
Pizzi’s contract was due to expire at the conclusion of the qualifiers and after Chile finished sixth in the 10-team group, outside the places for Russia, he said there was no reason to discuss a new deal.
“I am ruling myself out of continuing,” Pizzi said in comments reported by Chilean media.
Pizzi, 49, led Chile to victory at the 2016 Copa America but his ageing team have struggled in the closing stages of the qualifiers, winning just two of their past six games.
Several of the team’s biggest names — including Claudio Bravo, Arturo Vidal and Gary Medel — are already in their 30s and Tuesday’s defeat in Sao Paulo appears to have signalled the end of the most successful team in the country’s history.
