Chile have a formidable record when it comes to qualifying for World Cup’s, with South Africa 2010 set to be their ninth appearance in the competition often touted as the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet. However, unlike ever before Chile come into the finals in tremendous form and full of optimism after finishing the South American round of qualifying in 2nd position, just one point shy of the World No.1’s Brazil.
Despite only being ranked 15 in the FIFA Rankings, Chile were just a point off Brazil in the South America standings and finished above three others South American nations competing in South Africa this summer; Paraguay, Uruguay and even Argentina. Moreover, only Brazil could better Chile’s scoring exploits of 33 goals in 18 qualifiers in what was a prolific qualification campaign for the Chileans.
Marcelo Bielsa, an Argentine at heart, has worked wonders with the Chilean team and his direct reward was to reach the South African finals in 2010. He has made Chile a more potent attacking force, with Humberto Suazo the star of qualifying with 10 goals in 18 qualifiers, while consistency has also been added to their game, while both attributes will serve them well in South Africa as they pit their wits against some of the World’s best nations on a more regular basis.
Marcelo Bielsa is a huge favourite with the Chilean public after his efforts to guide Chile to the World Cup in South Africa were successful, even finishing above the country Bielsa originates from, Argentina.
Bielsa does have the necessary international experience to make Chile a big player in South Africa as he was the man who guided Argentina to Olympic Gold at the 2004 Olympics, while that same year he took Argentina to the finals of the Copa America, unfortunately losing the final. The fans were more than happy with the work Bielsa was doing at the Argentina helm, but Bielsa himself decided enough was enough and later resigned from his managerial post.
The highlight of Bielsa’s managerial reign with Chile was of course gaining qualification into South Africa, but the 1-0 win at home to Argentina will certainly be up there. It would also be ironic should Bielsa meet Argentina in South Africa, as were he to mastermind Argentina’s downfall once again, it would surely be meet with a hostile reception back home in his home land of Argentina.
Suazo, because of his predatory instincts, generally receives most of the plaudits because of the sheer amount of goals he’s scores, but both Matias Fernandez and Alexis Sanchez played an ample role in an effective forward unit for Chile.
The three generally set up in a diamond like formation, with Suazo the main striker and Fernandez and Sanchez occupying the wings. Fernandez plays the role of architect to perfection, squeezing balls through to a potent and on-his-toes Suazo, while on the opposite side of the pitch will be Sanchez, an explosive and tricky customer who will look to put his blistering pace and acceleration to good effect by sprinting to the touchline and whipping in some delicious deliveries.
Both Fernandez and Sanchez act mainly as the suppliers, while Suazo’s keen eye for goals and composure in front of the goal makes him the ideal hitman up front for Chile. They each play a pivotal role informing a deadly duo for Chile in the final third.
Chile were very prolific throughout qualifying, so we feel their obvious strength is their attacking play. With the help of Humberto Suazo, who scored 10 during the qualifiers, and Matias Fernandez in Midfield who scored 4, Chile were able to find the net on no less than 32 occasions, just one shy of Brazil who managed 33. To fall shy of a Brazilian team packed full of attacking flair and quality, you have to be doing some right in the final third of the pitch, so Chile will be a dangerous opponent and difficult to defend against if there record in qualifying serves them well.
Chile’s defence appears to be their achilles heels as they conceded more goals in qualifying than any of the other four South American nations who made South Africa’s cut. Claudio Bravo, a goalkeeper for Real Sociedad in Spain, was in goal for all of Chile’s 18 qualifiers and conceded 22 goals. Bravo is just 27 years-old, and for a goalkeeper that’s pretty young. It also doesn’t bode well that their reserve keepers are also very young, with Bravo’s main contenders for the gloves younger than he is. You always need a man with maturity, authority and experience between the sticks and unfortunately for Chile, they don’t have that in Claudio Bravo.
We must say that Chile’s defence did perform a lot better when playing at home, but they won’t have the luxury of playing on home soil in South Africa, so their defence will need to sharpen up soon before they clash with teams which will provide their defence with a thorough examination.
Chile score a total of 32 goals in 18 qualifiers, the second best offensive record in the South American qualifying zone.
The Chileans boast the worst defensive record out of the four automatic qualifying nations from South America, conceding 22 goals in 18 games.
Humberto Suazo finished as South America’s deadliest striker, scoring 10 goals in 18 appearances during qualifying.
Chile received the most amount of penalties during qualifying – make of that what you will – with referees handing them four penalties in total.
The Chileans won’t be a team the bigger nations will ideally look forward to playing, while the group they were drawn in, Group H, means they have a fantastic opportunity of making the last-sixteen. Their main strength is their forward play, spearheaded by South America’s most prolific forward during qualifying, Humberto Suazo, but their defence could be their downfall as their desire to commit men to attack often leaves them exposed and lightweight at the back. If they can get the right balance, Chile could be one of the tournament’s surprise packages. They are definite value and could quite easily make light of their 66/1 quote.