Villagra Returns to Chilean National Team After Three Years, Credits His Form at Colo Colo

Three years without wearing the Chilean national team jersey is a long time. Long enough that a return carries a different weight, with more excitement and also more nerves. That's exactly what's happening to Jonathan Villagra, the Colo Colo defender who reappeared on La Roja's roster for the upcoming FIFA date, when the team will face Canada, the United States and Mexico on North American soil between September and October.

The list featured several new faces, but Villagra's name drew particular attention given how long he'd been off the national team's radar. The player himself links it directly to his form at Colo Colo, the club he joined after a stint at Union Espanola, where he admits the start wasn't easy.

"My year at my club has been positive overall. I think I've gotten better as it's gone along. We've been picking up points, we're near the top, fighting for the league title. I'm taking this call-up with a lot of happiness, with confidence and with all the respect, always, to give my best," the defender said.

Villagra doesn't hide the fact that the move to a new club demanded a different kind of adjustment than what he'd experienced before. Playing for any team isn't the same as playing for the biggest club in Chile, with all the pressure that comes with it.

I feel more mature, I changed clubs, I've gained more confidence, I've picked up more rhythm, I've grown. I'm happy to be here and to put everything I do at Colo Colo to the test. It's different going from another club to Colo Colo, it's the biggest club in Chile, it carries the pressure of the entire country. At first it was tough for me, but I think I've settled in, I've gained confidenceJonathan Villagra

Fernando Ortiz's Backing and the Work at Juan Pinto Duran

Part of that recovered confidence, he explained, has a name attached to it: coach Fernando Ortiz, who installed him as a starter at the Colo Colo. Villagra thanked him publicly and made clear he now wants to carry that same level of performance over to the national team.

"I'm very grateful to Fernando. I think he gave me confidence from the moment he arrived, so I think it's something you have to pay back too. I've done that, and now I want to bring it here to the national team as well," he said.

On this week's training sessions at the Juan Pinto Duran complex, the defender described demanding days designed to gauge each player's level before the foreign-based players join the group. "The training sessions have been very tough, very intense, where everything you've built up during the week at your club gets tested. The guys based abroad are going to arrive. Everyone's coming to contribute. We're a group, and we have to bring together the best of each one to take the national team as high as possible," he explained.

Looking ahead to the three upcoming matches, Villagra was clear about the level of the opponents. Canada, the United States and Mexico arrive as teams that took part in the last World Cup and left good impressions there.

"We're playing against three national teams that came from the World Cup and did very well there. So these are going to be very difficult matches, which we have to approach in the best way possible to keep picking up results and building confidence. I think this is a very good generation, one that needs to keep gaining continuity, gaining confidence. I think as we go through these processes, these matches, we're going to keep earning confidence and merit to take on what's coming with the national team," the Colo Colo defender concluded.