Chile can’t be considered a shock going in with a good crop of youngsters coming through, but damnit, they shocked South America with the manner of their qualification. They finished one solitary point behind Brazil, taking down Argentina for the first time in an official game on their travels, and ran strong on the back of Marcelo Bielsa, exorcising his demons from 2002 – even if it wasn’t very patriotic.
It’s setup something of a quandry in South Africa, because history says they won’t make tremendous waves, but if they bring their good qualifying form to the party – it wasn’t all rosy – says they just might turn a few heads.
Which qualifies them as the underdog to watch throughout the tournament.
Nickname: La Roja (The Red)
FIFA World Ranking as of April 28th 2010: 15th
Group H Matches:
Honduras v Chile, June 16th, 1:30p, Nelspruit
Chile v Switzerlan, June 21st, 4p, Port Elizabeth
Chile v Spain, June 25th, 8:30p, Pretoria
Buy Chile World Cup tickets here.
Kit: Red top with blue shorts.
Coach: Marcelo Bielsa. Some coaches are strange, others are quirky – Marcelo Bielsa is out of his mind. So much so he’s called El Loco Bielsa – no points for translation.
But while he’s mad, he’s also a mad genius. There will be no better disciplined team at the World Cup, and no team whose players respect their coach more. He earns his respect by constantly devising and scheming, with a 3-4-3 that is every bit as bipolar as it sounds. They might score four, they might concede four, or they might do both. It’s maddeningly good.
Key Players: They’re a bit top heavy – partly because of that 3-4-3, but largely because point man Humberto Suazo is so large. Flanking him will be the super pacy duo of Mark Gonzalez and Alexis Sanchez, one of the biggest talents in the world, with Mathias Fernandes, once one of the world’s best talents, tucked in just behind as a trequartista. It’s a phenomenal ode to attacking football.
Carlos Carmona, Rodrigo Millar and Roberto Cereceda have been called in to provide a bit of the work in midfield, while the three-man back of Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara and Waldo Ponce get to enjoy nightmares of the counterattack. The man who gets to enjoy the fun evolve in front of him is No. 1 Claudio Bravo.
Player with best YouTube video: He’s likened to Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United tried to buy him to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, he sometimes falls in love with his own ability like a young Cristiano Ronaldo and someday soon he’s going to dominate YouTube like Cristiano Ronaldo. Alexis Sanchez:
Player with best name: Waldo Ponce, obviously. Expect the liveblogs to break the Where’s Waldo? meter during the summer. It’s just a damn shame Chile don’t play in red and white striped tops – they could humor us, couldn’t they?
Player with best nickname: Humberto Suazo – El Chupete. The bald head, boyish face and baby fat has earned him the nickname which translates to The Pacifier.
It may not be so great for him, but we like it.
Qualification: An awfully good run for Chile, finishing at 33 points and with a 10-3-5 record. What may be more impressive is that the wins home and away were split – five and five. No travel worries for South Africa.
Interesting: Argentina have Chile to thank for Diego Maradona at the helm – they beat Argentina for the first time ever and Alfio Basile subsequently stepped down and Diego was summoned. Don’t expect postcards.
National Anthem: Canción Nacional (National Song)
World Cup History:
Expectations: Barring the world tilting off its axis, Spain are going to win the group and Honduras will not advance. Therefore, they’ll scrap for second with many tipping Switzerland – which will be fine by them.
Squad: Chile World Cup squad.
Blog: Mathias mans the ship at the Chile World Cup Blog.
- More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.
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