Wednesday 11 June 2014

World Cup 2014: Chile looking to put the heat on Spain and The Netherlands

By Steven Oldham

Friday's rerun of the 2010 Final between Spain and The Netherlands is the headline game in Group B but there is a real chance Chile could spoil the European nations' chances of making the knockout rounds.

Jorge Sampaoli's team head into a South American World Cup with high hopes of making the last 16, and it is not beyond them that they can do it.

Their biggest threat is Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez who racked up an impressive career best 19 goals in just 34 games this season in La Liga.  England fans will need no introduction to the in-form striker; he scored both goals in his country's 2-0 victory at Wembley last year.

He also hit four goals for Chile on the way to Brazil, including in the 2-1 victory over Ecuador in the final round of qualifying games that sealed their place at the World Cup.  Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal managed five goals and will be a threat to opposition defences.


Alexis Sanchez (Kevin Quigley)

An all or nothing approach to qualification took Chile to an impressive nine wins, the same as CONMEBOL group winners Argentina and runners up Colombia. Six defeats though meant they qualified as the third best team.

A win against Australia in their opening game is critical to Chile's chances. It is the best way for them to build momentum for the tougher games ahead.

This World Cup could bear similarities to last time in South Africa for Chile. Again drawn alongside Spain in the group stages, if they do proceed to the last 16 as runners up, they will again be likely to meet Brazil.  They lost 3-0 four years ago and avoiding a similar scoreline on Brazilian soil may prove difficult.

Their attacking style will gain them many neutral fans and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top when they meet a similarly-minded Netherlands team, who hit 34 goals in qualifying. The Dutch have laboured to friendly victories over Wales and Ghana, following a draw with Ecuador and defeat to France in their pre-tournament preparations. They blitzed their qualifying group, winning all but one of their games, but there was no teams in their group who could seriously contend with them.

Spain will rightly begin as favourites but Chile could prove a real thorn in any opponent's side on their day.

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