Ben Brereton Diaz exclusive: Striker opens up on 'unreal' journey with Chile as another Copa America adventure awaits

He met local people too, including Alvaro Perez, the Football Manager fan who ended up changing Brereton Diaz's life. It was Perez, who has a penchant for picking players with dual nationality in the game, who discovered Brereton Diaz was eligible to play for Chile and started a social media campaign for him to be called up to the national team.

"He came across me, started playing me, he put something on Twitter and when I kept scoring goals it started to get a bit more serious," the striker, who had represented England at Under-19 level, recalls.

"Chile’s director of football saw it, saw I'd been doing well in the Championship and scoring goals, and they gave me a ring. From there they asked me to make a decision, but for me there was no decision to be made, I wanted to do it 100 percent. I never in a thousand years thought I’d be playing for the Chile national squad."

Chile have won two of the last four Copa Americas, and many of the players who were a part of those triumphs, including global stars Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Bravo, were suddenly his team-mates.

"When I got the call up I was like 'these guys have won the Copa America, the Champions League', so I was definitely nervous going into the dressing room because they're such a well connected group. But as soon as I went there the players showed me love. They're a great team, amazing players on and off the pitch, legends of the game really, so it was a great honour to be involved with those boys."

It was also an honour for the Chilean players to play with Brereton Diaz, as he offered them something completely different. As team-mate Mauricio Isla put it: "He's an animal, runs, fights, fights for everything, never tires." The striker quickly earned the nickname 'Big Ben', and his presence in the final third and willingness to attack every ball delighted Chile fans.

The only downside of his Copa America experience in 2021 was the fact that there were no supporters in the stadiums in Brazil due to the coronavirus pandemic. But a few months later, the national stadium in Santiago was packed for Brereton Diaz's first experience of World Cup qualifiers, where he broke the deadlock in a 2-0 win against Paraguay.

South America’s World Cup qualification process, an unforgiving slog of 18 matches where you play every team in the continent home and away, is unique in international football. "The passion fans show in South America, especially in Chile, is unbelievable," the striker says. "It was an unreal atmosphere, to get a goal against Paraguay, an important game we needed to win, was incredible.

"Every time you get called up, it's proper. You need to be switched on in training, the games are really competitive, you need to win. I love every minute of it."

Brereton Diaz has also had surreal experiences, such as playing away to Bolivia in La Paz at the highest international stadium in the world, 3637 metres above sea level. "Crazy," is how he describes it. "Physically, I've never done anything like that, in such humidity. I thought I had nothing left, it’s amazing to do stuff like that."

Brereton Diaz went on another overseas adventure last year when he joined Villarreal after five unforgettable seasons with Blackburn. It was a big change and not an easy one, as he went from being an indisputable starter for Blackburn to a substitute in Spain, being named in the line-up just twice in La Liga albeit coming on 12 times from the bench.

It was not the first setback he had faced in his career. Brereton Diaz had spent six years at the youth academy of Manchester United, the team he grew up supporting, and was released at the age of 14. It can be a heart-breaking experience for youngsters, many of whom decide to walk away from the game completely. But he took it in his stride and prefers to remember the best parts of being part of United.

"Most players go through that, getting released, everyone gets a knockback in football," he says. "It's one of those things that happens when you're young but you can grow into a great player."

He demonstrated a similar attitude at Villarreal, using the experience of playing at a top Liga side to his advantage. "I loved the six months I was there," he explains. "It's different altogether, more possession, more technical. Training with some of the world-class players Villarreal have and playing in that league is another experience that's only going to help me."

Ultimately, though, Brereton Diaz needed to be playing regular football, especially with Copa America coming up. Sheffield United offered him a route to starting games again, as well as the opportunity to realise a life's dream of playing in the Premier League. And you can sense the childlike joy when the forward discusses his experience in the English top flight.

There are the unforgettable moments, such as giving Sheffield United the lead against Manchester United at Old Trafford in April: "As a young boy I loved watching United, their teams, the history in the stadium so scoring there was incredible, a dream of mine," he says fondly.

Then there are the smaller things, like appearing on 'Match of the Day'. "It's crazy. Obviously, I used to watch it every morning with my dad when I was younger when we woke up on a Sunday morning, it's little things like that. Dad's proper into it, he goes to most games, home and away, he loves it.

"It's an incredible league, an amazing stage to be on, amazing to be a part of it. I'm thankful to Sheffield United for the opportunity. It's every young player’s dream to play in the Premier League one day, it's all I've ever wanted to do."

Brereton Diaz quickly adapted to the Premier League, scoring six goals in his 14 appearances. His efforts were not enough to prevent Sheffield United from sinking back to the Championship, but the fact he was able to score so regularly in a team that struggled to otherwise do so showcased his qualities as a goal-scorer.

He was responsible for 30 percent of the team’s Premier League goals after joining in January, and despite arriving halfway through the season and playing little more than a third of the Blades' matches, he finished as their joint-top scorer.

The look on his face each time Brereton Diaz scores tells its own story. He is not a man for the muted celebration; each time he strikes there is an explosion of emotions.

"I always say it's the best feeling in the world, every time I score. It doesn't matter who it's against or whatever, when I score it's an amazing feeling, the adrenaline you get from it. It's a passion, I'm an attacking player and I need to score goals."

When he is not playing football, Brereton Diaz can be found hanging out with his fiance and young son or fishing. "I got into it duing Covid. You could only go out really to do some little bits so I decided with some mates to do a bit of fishing and I really got into it," he says.

"When I was at Blackburn me and my mate Bradley Dack used to go all the time after training and on a day off. I find it's really relaxing, something to get your mind off things. I really enjoy it, sitting with your mates, rod in the lake and see what happens."

Brereton Diaz was able to leave Sheffield United with his head held high, and the aim is to have another crack at La Liga with Villareal in 2024-25. But before then, it’s back to the Copa America, the tournament where it all began. This time there will be fans in the stadiums, many of which will be used in the 2026 World Cup, and it will be Brereton Diaz’s first time in the United States.

"I’ve never been so it's something else, I'm sure they'll put on a great Copa America. I looked at some of the stadiums we're playing in, they look unreal. It’s going to be another experience which hopefully will help me to mature," he says. But there is also caution in Brereton Diaz’s words as he caveats his excitement by adding: "We’ll see what the situation is."

Despite everything he has achieved with Chile, the striker does not take his place in the team for granted. He was left out of Chile’s previous squad for the March friendlies against France and Albania and was the subject of a rebuke by new coach Ricardo Gareca, who said he would like Brereton Diaz to learn to speak more Spanish to help him further integrate into the squad.

This was wrongly interpreted by some in the media as the reason for him being excluded, although Gareca had been at pains to point out that the language issue was not the reason for leaving Brereton Diaz out. And a couple of weeks later, the striker was called back into the squad for those friendlies, appearing as a substitute in both games while providing an assist against Albania.

Brereton Diaz has been called into the preliminary squad for Chile's warm-up game against Paraguay in Santiago on June 11, and the next day will learn whether he has made the final 26-man group that will go to the U.S.

Chile kick off their Copa America campaign against arch rivals Peru on June 22 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will then face holders Argentina at the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, the venue of the 2026 World Cup final. The fiendishly difficult group is completed by Canada, who Chile face in Orlando.

"I've got to keep working and hopefully I can be there," he adds. "It’s a tough group but we're confident, the amount of experience the team has got, the new manager, it's exciting."

Exciting is certainly one word you could use to describe Brereton Diaz’s career so far. From being released by Manchester United, to finding his feet with Blackburn, becoming a national hero in Chile, playing in La Liga and then scoring for fun in the Premier League, it’s been quite the journey.

And there are still plenty of more stops to come. Asked where he would like to be in two years time, his response sums up his general attitude to life and his sense of adventure. "With a smile on my face, playing football somewhere."

How about back in North America and playing in the 2026 World Cup? "Maybe, we've got some big World Cup qualifiers coming up," he says. "That's another dream, everyone wants to play in the World Cup."

Given how his life has panned out, it is one of the more likely scenarios in a career that no one, least of all him, could have predicted.