Aboutaball :: About World Football

Football News, Articles, Statistics, Links and more…

Chile team guide

Coach Nelson Acosta has surprised some by naming a squad that has experience preferring to let some of Chile’s youngsters attend the World Youth cup that will be held later this year in Canada. To that end neither highly talented Alexis Sanchis of Colo Colo or Arturo Vidal recently transferred from the same club to German outfit Bayer Leverkusen have been selected. Interestingly neither Claudio Maldonado of Santos a midfielder who plays a pivotal role for his club side in Brazil or Luis Jimenez of Lazio have been selected. Another notable absentee will be David Pizarro of AS Roma whose position may be filled by the main star of the team Matias Fernandez. This will give Acosta the chance to experiment with the side in preparation for the qualification tournament for the World Cup in 2010.

Acosta is in his 2nd spell in charge having overseen Chile’s most successful period in recent history when they qualified for the World Cup in France 1998 getting through to the knock out stage losing slightly harshly to Brazil in the round of 16. A year later in the Copa America of 1999 they reached the semi-finals and a year later in 2000 their Olympic side reached the semi finals in Sydney loosing to Cameroon the eventual winners.

With 6 players contracted to them Colo Colo of Santiago the Chilean capital provide the most players to the squad. Chilean football has not performed well in the Copa Libertadores this season as none of the Chilean based teams made it through to the knock out stage, although Colo Colo did finish above River Plate in their group. A number of the squad are based with European teams, the best known being Mark Gonzalez contracted to Liverpool.

Tactically the Chilean team have been quite flexible in recent friendlies against Ireland, Sweden and the Ivory Coast and Acosta has tinkered with various formations. This lack of a fixed line up may hamper the Chileans although their lack of a predictable line-up may work to their advantage as the opposition will be unable to prepare with a fixed formation in mind.

Claudio Bravo the 24 year old goalkeeper contracted to Real Sociedad looks set to start in goal. Despite suffering relegation with the Basque side Bravo was one of the few high points in an otherwise mediocre season. In fact Sociedad conceded far fewer than several of the teams around them, partly thanks to the good form of Bravo. His competition between the sticks will be provided by back-up goalkeeper Nicolas Peric of Chilean side Audax Italiano. Peric currently has 4 caps to his name but is expected to perform back-up duties to the more experienced Bravo who currently has 11 caps to his name.

In defence Chile have an experienced look to the side. The centre back positions should be occupied by Pablo Contreras of Spanish side Celta Vigo and Jorge Vargas currently playing in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg but who has experience of Serie A. Contreras who holds Spanish nationality as well has just under 100 appearances under his belt for Celta as well as loan spells with Sporting Lisbon and Osasuna. He played an important role with Celta this season in helping them avoid the drop from La Liga. His most likely partner is Jorge Vargas an experienced 31 year old who spent 5 years in Serie A with Reggina, Empoli and Livorno helping his last side qualify for the UEFA cup. As cover or if Acosta goes with a back three Miguel Riffo may come into the side. Riffo is one of the several players currently at Colo Colo where he won the most recent Chilean Championship.

The left back position should be taken by Rodrigo Tello who is an adventurous full back converted successfully a few seasons ago from a winger. He scored some spectacular goals the last one dating from the recent derby victory against Porto when he unleashed an unstoppable drive from a good 35 yards out. He has since transferred to Turkish side Besiktas for a fee believed to be around the 7 million Euro region. The right back position seems up for grabs if Chile play with a back four. Most obvious candidate is Alvaro Ormeno who is plying his trade with Argentinean minnows Gimnasia y Esgrima de la Plata having caught their eye whilst playing with Colo Colo.

The midfield looks to be where Chile look at their strongest as they have a number of talented players included in the squad. From a defensive stand point in the midfield Arturo Sanhueza looks to have the preference of the coach. Sanhueza, 28, has spent his entire career in Chile and is currently playing his club football with Colo Colo. He has 10 caps to his name. Rodrigo Melendez his club mate may well join his in the middle, the slightly built midfielder (5’6”) is an aggressive and tenacious player who returned to Chile after a successful spell in Argentina with firstly Quilmes and later with Estudiantes.

Further forward Chile look really exciting with several players capable of delivering quality service to the strikers as well as scoring a goal themselves. Most prominent of these players is Matias Fernandez of Villarreal a Chilean born of Argentinean descent. Fernandez after excelling in the Chilean Championship has earned himself a move to that most South American of clubs Villarreal, who currently have a Chilean manager in charge: Manuel Pellegrini. He arrived to the fill hole vacated by the departure of Juan Roman Riquelme and whilst he still has someway to go to achieve that he has at least impressed in his 20 appearances since his 7 million pound move last winter. Another star turn in the midfield will be Jorge Valdivia who is back in South America after an unsuccessful time of it in Europe with Servette and Rayo Vallecano. Whilst his ability and flair are beyond dispute prior to his move to Sao Paulo based outfit Palmeiras so far he racked up 7 goals in 22 matches during his brief spell here. Nevertheless his team-mates and critics alike have been quick to point out that at times he seems more interested in playing to the gallery rather than getting one with the task in hand of winning the game. His ability to wind up opponents could see some explosive action during Chilean games!

Whilst Valdivia can play on either side Mark Gonzalez is exclusively left footed. Gonzalez currently in the process of transferring between Liverpool and Real Betis needs a good tournament to kick start his career which has stagnated this season. Another option for the attacking midfield berth could be Carlos Villanueva who plays his football for Audax Italiano. He has notched up 25 goals in just user 70 appearances from a midfield position which could make his an interesting alternative if Acosta decides not to risk it with Valdivia.

Depending on the formation Acosta chooses Chile may go with two strikers or to try and accommodate some more of the talent from their midfield and select only one. The Chilean FA have selected three out and out strikers. Most prominent amongst them will be Humberto Suazo who has just been transferred to Mexican football after catching the eye with Colo Colo. His record of goals not only in the comparatively weak Chilean league but also in the Continental competitions such as the Copa Libertadores is highly impressive. Overall he racked up 52 goals in a mere 54 appearances making him a player to watch in this edition of the Copa America. His transfer fee of 5 million pounds is one of the highest ever paid by a Mexican team. Suazo’s record for the national team is less eye catching with 4 goals scored in 12 games. If Suazo fails to capture his club form for his country Acosta could call on Reinaldo Navia a player who has been in Mexican football since 2000. Navia’s record at international level isn’t quite as good as Suazo’s with 10 goals in 39 games. It remains to be seen if Acosta goes with a front two whether these two out and out strikers can gel and form an effective partnership.

Acosta’s third option up front is Juan Lorca of Colo Colo although after the tournament he will be moving on to Ukrainian football with Dynamo Kiev. A slightly surprising choice Lorca who was by no means a regular starter for his club side has been called up to the national squad by Nelson Acosta. On his first start for his country hepromptly scored in a friendly against Jamaica! His inclusion could be more to do with finding a partnership with either Navia or Suazo as he generally plays in a more withdrawn role behind the strikers.

Chile clearly still have a lot of work to do if they are to excel in this tournament. One plus for them is that they have been drawn the relatively tame group A which contains neither Brazil or Argentina. Acosta’s main problem seems to be in defence where he lacks a world class centre back in the shape of for example Ivan Cordoba for Colombia who can really organise the defence. If Acosta is uncertain about whether to play with a back 3 or stick with a more conventional back 4 this indecision could easily be transmitted through to an uncertain defence playing in front of a young goalkeeper. If Chile do replicate or improve on Acosta’s last time at the Copa America when they reached the semi finals then either the defence is going to have to be improved or Suazo up front is going to have to really rack up the goals.

Key player: Mark Gonzalez after a first outstanding season with Liverpool the left winger failed to build on that. He has since been released by Liverpool at the end of this season and is believed to be joining Real Betis in Spain. However, those who have seen the South African born winger in action in his pomp will know what a fine player he can be. One goal in particular for Real Sociedad when he slalomed his way through the entire bamboozled Real Madrid back line showed all his qualities. Gonzalez though will have to be careful not to give away too much space when Rodrigo Tello gets forward from his left back slot, which he almost inevitably will. If Gonzalez can delivery quality into the box from the by-line maybe Chile’s frontline can profit from the exceptional service he is undoubtedly capable of delivering.

Posted by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 23rd June 2007

(Average rating 6 from 7 votes. Vote)
(0 Comments)

Want to write about Football? At About a ball we're always looking out for football writiers from every corner of the World, if you think you can write interesting original articles please contact:
editor @ aboutaball . co . uk (no spaces).

We look forward to hearing from you.

Other News Stories:

African Cup of Nations, Site News, World -

The African Cup of Nations is back on Aboutaball - your Number One source for news and views from Africa's premier competition

British -

Vieira over the hill?

African Cup of Nations, World -

Nigerian fans risk Nations Cup blackout

African Cup of Nations, Previews, Profiles, World -

African Cup of Nations 2010: Tunisia Team Guide

African Cup of Nations, Previews, Profiles, World -

African Cup of Nations 2010: Zambia Team Guide

African Cup of Nations, Previews, Profiles, World -

African Cup of Nations 2010: Gabon Team Guide

African Cup of Nations, Previews, Profiles, World -