by Lee Hurley

Kieran Gibbs believes that Alexis Sanchez can carry Chile to Copa America glory this summer.

Writing on his Sportslobster account, the left-back was full of praise for his teammate who has already shone in Chile’s 2-0 win over Ecuador in their first game of the competition.

“I really enjoyed watching Alexis Sanchez in the Copa America opener against Ecuador,” Gibbs said.

“It’s not easy to perform well on home soil in the first game of a big tournament but they did the job. Chile have a good squad and shouldn’t be underestimated, especially as hosts of the tournament.

“Alexis could really carry Chile in this tournament. He’s definitely capable of taking them all the way so I’ll be watching and cheering him on.

“For Arsenal Alexis was amazing all season. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not the only world-class player in our squad but he’s given us something extra which the team have really welcomed. Hopefully he can do it for us again next season.

“David Ospina’s also out in Chile representing Colombia. I sort of hope they don’t have to face each other in the Final but it would be great to see one of them lift the trophy.”

Ospina has also been speaking ahead of his side’s first game in the tournament as well, bigging up his compatriot Falcao while Alexis Sanchez is still reluctant to give interviews (we are monitoring the press in Chile in the hopes he might get over this issue).

So far he’s done one press conference and one BBC World feature. We tried to translate that video but, finding what Gerard Pique said about Sanchez’s Spanish to be true – it was practically impossible to understand a word he was saying.

Here’s the video. If you speak Spanish, see for yourself: