The Scottish soccer team was welcomed on Wednesday in Lima with bagpipe music by their fans to play a friendly match against the Peruvian team, which is preparing for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The British team will be the third opponent for the Peruvian team this year, after Croatia and Iceland, whom they defeated.
The coaching staff, led by strategist Alex McLeish, and 16 Scottish players arrived at the Jorge Chávez airport, amidst the expectation of the Peruvian press. A group of Scottish fans awaited their team with musicians playing the bagpipe, the popular Scottish wind instrument, at the airport terminal.
Peru prepares
The Peruvian National Team, led by the Argentine Ricardo Gareca, will play their last friendly match in Lima against Scotland, and then leave for Europe to play against Saudi Arabia and Sweden before the World Cup in Russia. In the tournament, the Peruvian team will be part of Group C, where they will face Denmark, France, and Australia.
After training in Lima on Thursday, Edison Flores told reporters that while there is still "a lot of talk about Paolo's absence", today they are more focused on "moving on". "It's unfortunate that he can't be with us, but we have great players," he added referring to the ban against the team's captain, preventing him from participating in the World Cup to which Peru qualified after 36 years.
(With information from EFE)