Chile are in the firing line. The well-respected English news outlet has awarded the national the dubious honour of having the most hated national team in all of South America. But how has Chile acquired this hatred?
According to the 'BBC', it all started when Marcelo Bielsa abandoned Chile following their Copa America success, only to take the Argentina job, who Chile had just beaten in the Final.
A series of innapropiate remarks from players followed, as well as other comments from elsewhere that were deemed arrogant by onlookers, causing an increased dislike of the Chileans.
Gonzalo Jara didn't exactly help matters either with his inappropriate act on Edinson Cavani, perhaps best described as a 'devil's finger', in a game between Chile and Uruguay. Chile went on to win the game, only further going to damage their reputation as they were seen to have done so using dirty tactics and cheating.
"That game not only turned the praise into criticism, but it also showed how a team that was previously admired had morphed into one that has created a great deal of antipathy across the whole of Latin Ameria," explained the 'BBC'.
The 'BBC' also compared Chile's new-found pariah status to that of other teams: "In 2013, BBC World asked a similar question abuoot whether Mexico was the most hated national team on continent when many rival fans celebrated their difficulty in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Without turning it into a scientific debate, there were no doubts among those consulted that that was indeed the case".
After the Copa America champions missed out on next summer's World Cup, the criticism and the ridicule will surely be harsher than ever.