Arsenal forward Alexis Sánchez has shown off his badly-swollen ankle after an important substitute appearance during Chile’s Confederations Cup fixture against Cameroon.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger won’t be pleased as Sanchez went into the tournament with a knock. Alexis came on against Cameroon just before the hour mark and created his fourth successive assist with an inviting delivery for midfielder Arturo Vidal to head goalwards from close-range.

He came close to doubling La Roja’s lead before the full-time whistle too, but Eduardo Vargas applied the finishing touch in the area after he weaved past the opposition’s challenges in stoppage time.

Alexis sustained a sprained ankle earlier in the week and was considered a significant doubt to feature on this occasion. Despite this though, the 28-year-old insisted that he’d play regardless and manager Juan Antonio Pizzi utilised him as an impact sub.

He [Alexis] played a key role in both situations that led to a goal, so he’s happy,” Pizzi was quoted as saying to reporters by the Evening Standard.

I don’t like mentioning individual players but we can be very happy that he plays in our national team. He always wants to play with us so we have to take care of him, even if that means he can’t always be here when we want him.” 

Unsurprisingly feeling the after-effects of his decision to play on Sunday evening, Alexis shared pictures on social media of his swollen ankle, as reported by the Daily Mail.

alexis swelling
Alexis took a picture of his swollen ankle post-match following Chile’s winning start to this year’s Confederations Cup

Chile’s next fixture is against Germany on Thursday evening and they’ll be hopeful that Alexis’s ankle heals quickly so he can play longer against the World Cup holders.