Football
ESPN staff 7y

Sanchez 'very happy' to break Chile record, won't discuss Arsenal future

Alexis Sanchez says he's "happy" to become the top scorer in Chile history, but refused to entertain questions about his Arsenal future after his side's 1-1 Confederations Cup draw against Germany on Thursday.

Sanchez surpassed Marcelo Salas' national record total of 37 goals with a sixth-minute strike at the near post to give Chile a 1-0 lead over the defending world champions.

Though the Gunners forward needed 112 caps, compared to 71 for Salas, to accomplish the feat, he expressed his joy in breaking the record.

"It makes me very happy to have become the team's greatest scorer,'' Sanchez said after the match. "I'm happy for what the team has done, for our effort. We are confident that we can win this tournament.''

The 28-year-old has left his future at the Emirates in doubt as he's yet to sign a new deal with Arsene Wenger's club.

Bayern Munich and Chelsea are among the clubs interested in his services should he leave, but the former Udinese and Barcelona man had no interest in discussing his future, insisting he was focused on the tournament in Russia.

"As you've said, our dream is to win this competition," Sanchez said.

"We're really focused on that and we think we will be able to do so.

"We need to rest and, on Sunday, we have to play the same way we did [on Thursday]."

The point left Chile tied with Germany atop Group B with one game remaining. 

Alexis hailed his side's performance, saying: "It's true that we played a very good game.

"Remember we were playing against Germany, one of the best teams in the world, very fast. Now we have to rest and think about the next one."

Chile manager Juan Antonio Pizzi described Sanchez's milestone as "very special," while citing the quality of football on display Thursday.

"Alexis scored a very special goal because he is now the top scorer ever for Chile," Pizzi told reporters. "That is very important.

"It was a game of a really high level. There were two teams on the pitch who have a very strong game-plan and I think that is very attractive for the players and spectators.

"Our games are quite intense, we both want to win every game. Sometimes this competitiveness lets us win but sometimes we can only draw.

"You can see how we sometimes blocked each other, especially in front of goal. However, I think the result fits both teams. The players all played very, very well. The opposition have an incredible team, even though they have very young players, and we were able to compete with them toe-to-toe.

"Now we need to rest and recover. We made a huge effort, especially in the first half. We really tried to recover the ball as much as possible while Germany played a different style. They blocked certain spaces but always in their half of the pitch."

Chile and Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal, who knows a thing or two about German football, lamented not closing out the game in the first half.

"If you know about football, it is impossible to close out a game against Germany," said Vidal, with a wide smile. "They created a move and then equalised. It's very difficult to sow up a game in the first half."

Vidal described the game against a Germany side missing many of their star names as intense and was full of praise for the young team.

"We drew against a very good side that is physically very prepared," he added.

ESPN FC's Tom Marshall contributed to this report.

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