Erick Pulgar hits back at Chile icon over ‘fragile mind’ jibe

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·24 September 2026

Erick Pulgar hits back at Chile icon over ‘fragile mind’ jibe

Esteban Paredes, the all-time top scorer in Chilean league history, strongly criticized Erick Pulgar

After asking not to be called up to the Chilean National Team, Erick Pulgar spoke out on the matter again. The decision drew criticism from former players, such as Esteban Paredes, the all-time top scorer in the history of ‘La Roja’. As a result, the Flamengo player decided to respond to his fellow countryman.

“I found it a little funny, mainly because Esteban never spoke to me. So he managed to assess my mental strength without even asking me what happened. Quite a complete diagnosis. He also talked about the pressure of playing for Chile, and we’re back to the same point: I’ve been playing professional football for years, I spent eight years in Europe,” he said, before concluding:

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“I’ve played decisive matches and a Copa Libertadores final. I’ve already had to face some pressure. I have a lot of respect for what Esteban did as a football player, but if he wanted to know what was going on with me, it would have been much easier to ask me than to do a psychological analysis on television,” Pulgar concluded to ‘O Globo’.

WHAT DID ESTEBAN PAREDES SAY ABOUT PULGAR?

During an appearance on the program ‘Tipsters’, Esteban Paredes said that he would not call up the Flamengo midfielder anymore if the issue was criticism from Chilean fans. The former striker even went further and described Pulgar’s attitude as mental fragility.

Pulgar doesn’t go to the national team because he has been heavily criticized, that’s what he said. If that is the reason, I consider him very mentally fragile. Obviously, football players are subject to criticism. People will always criticize, for better or worse, and you need to be aware of that. If Pulgar doesn’t want to go to the national team because he’s going to be booed, I would never call him up again. Playing for the national team is not an obligation, but it is something that needs to come from within the player“.

WHY IS PULGAR OUT OF THE CHILEAN NATIONAL TEAM?

Even while in good form wearing the Flamengo shirt, Erick Pulgar has been left out of the Chilean National Team squads. Chile did not qualify for the World Cup, played friendlies during the World Cup period, and the red-and-black player turned down the call-up for those matches.

As a result, Chile coach Nicolás Córdova publicly revealed Erick Pulgar’s ‘no’ to the national team. In addition, Chilean Federation president Pablo Milad detailed the case and said that the midfielder’s decision involves his discomfort with the way he and his family were treated.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME PULGAR PLAYED FOR CHILE?

Erick Pulgar’s last match for the Chilean National Team took place in October 2024, in the South American World Cup Qualifiers. On that occasion, the Flamengo midfielder started in the defeats to Bolivia and Colombia. Finally, the scores were 2-1 and 4-0, respectively.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.