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Soccer News, World Cup News | March 18, 2010
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World Cup Soccer profile: Chile
SI
March 18, 2010
Coach Marcelo Bielsa is a believer in attacking soccer with two wingers, and Alexis Sánchez on the right is the jewel in his crown. Wonderfully tricky, dangerous in one-on-one situations, Sánchez is the man Chile looks for to carve open defenses.
The main beneficiary of his wing play is center forward Humberto Suazo who, with 10 goals, was the top scorer in South America's qualification campaign. Easy to underestimate because he's not an imposing presence, Suazo is a late developer who has become a thoroughly proficient marksman.
Suazo swaps positions well with attacking midfielder Matías Fernández. There's a touch of Brazil's Kaká about the young Chilean, and though he has yet to catch fire in European club soccer, he provides thrust and a fierce shot in the service of the national team.
The captain is goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, an agile shot-stopper who will have a key role organizing the defense in front of him.
What to watch for
Getting Chile into its first World Cup since 1998 was Bielsa's triumph. The Argentine coach convinced his players of the virtues of his favored 3-3-1-3 system, with its focus on high-tempo attack, pressing the opposition in its half and a constant quest to create two-on-one situations down the flanks.
When the Chileans are clicking, they're a joy to watch, with lots of quick passing and aggressive intentions. It's surely a good sign that in qualifying they won more games on the road than anyone else in the continent.
On the other hand, there's a fear that Chile can leave itself too open against counterattacking specialists, and its defense looks very vulnerable in the air. Without a lot of height, La Roja could struggle against physically stronger opponents. Either way, Chile -- which is ramping up preparations for the World Cup again after canceling two early-March warmup matches in the wake of the country's 8.8-magnitude earthquake -- promises to be one of the most interesting sides in South Africa.
Key match in group stage
June 16 vs. Honduras. With powerful Spain coming up last, Chile almost certainly needs to win this game to progress to the knockout stages. The pressure is on right from the start and, in addition to the Central Americans, Chile is up against history. With the exception of '62, which it hosted, Chile's last win in a World Cup match came against the U.S. back in 1950.
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Beckham blow leaves way open for young guns to fill void
By Mitch Phillips
March 18, 2010
LONDON While the injuries are beginning to mount up for Fabio Capello, the England manager can take some comfort from the fact that, in the case of David Beckham's position, he has a wealth of alternatives.
Beckham's hopes of making the World Cup are negligible after he tore an Achilles on Sunday, with the 34-year-old scheduled for surgery later on Monday.
In an all-too-familiar scenario for England managers over the years, the setback is one of several in recent weeks for the squad and almost certainly will not be the last as the gruelling and relentless English season lurches into its eighth month.
Wes Brown has fallen prey to the curse of the metatarsal - a broken toe that in the past has previously cut down Beckham, Gary Neville, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney twice - and is fighting to make the World Cup.
Capello's other main right-back, Glen Johnson, is only just tentatively returning to action after ankle ligament damage that kept him out for more than two months.
Left-back Ashley Cole has a broken ankle that will at best leave him desperately rusty and at worse rule him out of the tournament altogether, while his obvious replacement, Wayne Bridge, has retired from the international game after his personal problems with centre-back and former captain John Terry.
The new captain, Rio Ferdinand, has struggled all season with a back injury and has struggled to put together a consistent run of appearances for Manchester United while Aaron Lennon, a speedy alternative to Beckham on the right, is struggling with a troublesome groin injury that has kept him out since December and is seriously damaging his World Cup prospects.
With the leading English sides still facing a potential dozen games in the Premier and Champions Leagues there is plenty of time for more already-ailing bodies to be struck down before the June 1 deadline for World Cup squads to be named.
"David is a great professional and has worked very hard to be ready for the World Cup, so missing it will be a big blow," Capello said.
However, the silver lining for the Italian coach is that Beckham's position is the one where there is the deepest cover and removed the decision of whether it was a sensible use of a squad slot to take a player only ever likely to feature as a substitute.
Lennon, Theo Walcott and Shaun Wright-Phillips have all featured there in the last year and all bring a measure of pace and direct running that Beckham could not match even in his prime.
True, the three of them combined struggle to deliver the quality of cross and dead ball accuracy of Beckham but one of the trio was always likely to be Capello's first-choice starter.
James Milner and Steven Gerrard, both more effective in central midfield, can also operate well on the right, while David Bentley adds a further option having begun to rediscover his form at Tottenham Hotspur. With the shadow of Beckham removed, it could pave the way for one of them, and Walcott appears to be in pole position, to stake a firm claim for the role and move England into a new era.
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