Chile

“Vamos, vamos Chilenos…”

Welcome everybody, my sincerest well wishes extend to everybody who comes up with the curiosity of catching up with the latest gossip with all words, Chilean. It is my many thanks to this World Cup Blog website for enabling the opportunity to start a new campaign, a new journey.

“Chile clearly defeated its rival today.” “There are positive things; defensively the team have made important steps. I feel that in general structures, it went well, today we added a better circulation, a better keeping and possession of the ball”, these were coach Marcelo Bielsa’s words.

“The result was just”, he then added, signalling that the match “offensively was well taken, with regular finishing”. “Perhaps we lacked in depth which is what today the team suffered, perhaps we need more of it sooner rather than later or else we will suffer the consequences.” Quite subtly highlighted by the Argentinian mastermind who guided his pupils to their first victory of the campaign and his first on Chilean soil.

Not forgotten is the stumble in Buenos Aires last Saturday that was ultimately sparked by a media-frenzied Argentinian victory, raising a resentful neighbouring reaction towards Chile with hostilities strictly in football terms, particularly with relations concerning goalscorer Juan Roman Riquelme and his overlooking coach at Villarreal, Manuel Pellegrini. Enough of that though.

Class is exactly what players highlight and distinguish from their peers and obviously, from the game. Reaping rewards from all extrinsic factors are just the start of what comes into play yet last Wednesday’s match at the Nacional stadium in Santiago against northern neighbours Peru had Matias Fernandez - also of Villarreal - and newly signed Bayer Leverkusen wing back Arturo Vidal as the key to guiding the much-needed first three points. At least, on the score sheets.

A curious heading on leading paper La Tercera on earlier in the week titled the collection of ticket prices of a single home match is enough to fill the pocket of coach Bielsa for the year. Many comments and thoughts surely must come into consideration, it is understood that a public profile like the one of being coach, a position which the Football Federation (ANFP) held vacant until recently and can be easily the most demanding and at times, both wanted and unwanted in the country, can reveal its yearly net salary on its newspaper.

Acquiring a tactician from across the Andes in charge does involve a different approach, one encouraged by newly-elected president Harold Mayne Nicholls due to the fact predecessors have failed to attack its single main complexity: attacking-minded football.

Most overwhelmingly would agree that La Roja self-destructively count matches against Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and even Peru away as automatic defeats. The rest of the competing nations on the road can at most be obtained with hard-earned draws. It is no wonder the hey-day of the qualification process to France in 1998 still lingers in the back of the minds of Chilean football-mad faithfuls and one that its yesteryear heavily embarks a casted shadow over, unless Bielsa and his troops believe and act otherwise.

From an initial “It’s never happened to me to coach a side and face a game without the hope of winning” quote coming from Señor Bielsa to a much optimistic post-match analysis and conclusion is definitely the start of something.

So for the record:

Chile 2 Peru 0 - result. World Cup qualifier, South American zone, played in Santiago on Wednesday:
Scorer: Humberto Suazo 11, Matias Fernandez 51

Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 60,000

Chile: 1-Claudio Bravo; 8-Arturo Vidal, 18-Waldo Ponce, 5-Miguel Riffo; 6-Gonzalo Fierro (4-Ismael Fuentes 89), 16-Manuel Iturra, 15-Hugo Droguett, 14-Matias Fernandez; 9-Humberto Suazo (7-Eduardo Rubio 83), 11-Marcelo Salas (10-Luis Jimenez, 87), 17-Mark Gonzalez

Peru: 1-Leao Butron; 5-John Galliquio, 3-Santiago Acasiete, 2-Alberto Rodriguez, 4-Walter Vilchez (10-Rinaldo Cruzado 73); 7-Nolberto Solano, 18-Paolo de la Haza (11-Henry Quinteros 46), 8-Juan Jayo, 6-Juan Vargas; 17-Jefferson Farfan, 14-Claudio Pizarro Oscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Argentina 2 Chile 0 - World Cup qualifier, South American zone result on Saturday. In Buenos Aires
Scorer: Juan Roman Riquelme 27, 45

Red card: Cristian Alvarez (Chile) 54

Halftime: 2-0; Attendance: 60,000

Argentina - 1-Roberto Abbondanzieri; 8-Javier Zanetti, 2-Martin Demichelis, 15-Gabriel Milito, 6-Gabriel Heinze; 14-Javier Mascherano, 5-Esteban Cambiasso, 7-Maxi Rodriguez (16-Fernando Gago 68), 10-Juan Roman Riquelme; 18-Lionel Messi (9-Javier Saviola 84), 11-Carlos Tevez (13-Sergio Aguero 74)

Chile - 1-Claudio Bravo; 2-Cristian Alvarez, 5-Miguel Riffo, 18-Waldo Ponce; 8-Arturo Vidal, 16-Manuel Iturra (3-Claudio Maldonado 63), 6-Gonzalo Fierro (15-Hugo Droguett 37), 7-Eduardo Rubio (11-Marcelo Salas 46), 14-Matias Fernandez; 9-Humberto Suazo, 17-Mark Gonzalez

Referee: Martin Vazquez (Uruguay)