da betano casino： The forward speaks to GOAL about thriving in the Premier League, being welcomed with open arms by Alexis Sanchez and his love of fishing

da bet vitoria： "I will tell you an incredible story, one that even I find hard to believe. What has happened to me is so surreal that it resembles a story taken out of a dream." So begins the trailer for the documentary series 'Breretour', which tells the tale of Ben Brereton Diaz's adventure through Chile, the country he knew little about until just three years ago, when he was catapulted to fame during the last Copa America.

In a matter of weeks, the striker, who grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, went from playing for mid-table Blackburn Rovers at Rotherham in the English Championship to coming off the bench for Chile against Argentina in the Olympic Stadium in Brazil, facing Lionel Messi. In his next game, he made his first start for Chile against Bolivia and scored the only goal. Overnight he became a national sensation.

Chile eventually exited the tournament to Brazil in the quarter-finals, but by then Brereton Diaz was already a hero. He became the face of Pepsi in Chile, featured in a healthcare campaign and wherever he went he attracted attention befitting a Hollywood star.

And last year the Villarreal striker, who has just completed an impressive half-season on loan with Sheffield United in the Premier League, truly became a film star, when adidas and HBO documented a week-long journey through his adopted homeland.

Chilean TV reporter Manuel de Tezanos was his guide while his mother Andrea, whose family emigrated from Chile to Stoke to work in the pottery industry, joined him halfway through. Highlights include struggling with heights up the Entel Tower in the capital of Santiago, swimming in a lagoon and exploring the world famous Atacama desert.

"I've never seen anything like it in my life, it was crazy," Brereton Diaz tells GOAL. "Going to the desert, big barbecues, fishing, being with friends and family. My mum is from there, she'd not been around Chile for a few years so she loved to come round with me and to see all this stuff as well, it was lovely to share that moment with her.

"I had only been to Chile once when I was one year old, the next time I went was after the Copa America. I've been there many times playing football, but you don't see much of Chile. You only see the hotel, you train and you play. It was an amazing trip for me to see some of the beautiful places in Chile, do some of the traditional stuff."

Getty 'Never in a thousand years'

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.

AdvertisementGettyLoving every minute

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."

Getty ImagesLearning curve

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."

Getty Thriving in the Premier League

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."