Chile's 'National March for Alexis Sanchez to leave Arsenal' gets embarrassing turnout

On more than one occasion this season, Alexis Sanchez’s body language has suggested frustration at his Arsenal teammates. The Chilean forward was clearly unhappy after the disappointing 3-3 draw with Bournemouth in January and seemed especially disheartened during the Gunners’ recent Champions League demolition at the hands of Bayern Munich. The Arsenal favorite’s contract expires next summer, and he has yet to agree a new deal.

Apparently, Sanchez is not the only one who is feeling annoyed by his team’s perceived lack of effort. Shortly after the Bayern Munich defeat, a Facebook event was set up by his Chilean fans: The National March for Alexis Sanchez to leave Arsenal.

The organizers planned to petition for a transfer for their hero at the iconic Plaza Baquedano in Santiago on Wednesday. They wrote:

As you can see above, 12,000 people were interested in attending and 14,000 planned to attend. (Which presumably means that 2,000 people who were planning to attend were not really interested in doing so.)

The stage was set for a major movement in the Chilean capital – a significant protest like this may even have forced Mesut Ozil to consider putting in more than 50 percent effort on the field.

However, the march did not get the support that the Facebook page would have suggested. In fact, just five people showed up.

Yes, five.

Here is the Plaza Baquedano at 7 p.m. local time when the march was supposed to start:

It is safe to say that a feverish protest against Alexis’ North London employers did not materialize.

Sanchez may feel discontented by the teammates who are perceived to have let him down, but they are certainly putting in more effort than around 13,995 of his Chilean fans.