GOOOOOOOL !!!

1-0 75' Gonzalez

Chile Lineup pt 2

1. Bravo


18. Jara 17. Medel 3. Ponce


4. Isla 6. Carmona 8. Vidal


14. Fernandez


7. Sanchez 9. Suazo 15. Beausejour

Port Elizabeth / Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

This is the stadium where the Chile vs. Switzerland match is to be played tomorrow. The stadium is newly built and has a capacity for approximately 43,000 persons. Let us hope that it will be filled with red (both team) fans and please NO Vuvuzelas. Three matches have been played there so far.

South Corea - Greece 2-0
Ivory Coast - Portugal 0-0
Germany - Serbia 0-1

The match will be the second of the day, which means that it starts at 16:00 local time. Be sure that you don't miss it.

The referee will be Khalil Al Ghamdi from Saudi Arabia. He has according to FIFA been at an International level since 2003. He was the referee in the match between France vs. Mexico (0-2). Reports say that he was okay, although the referee team missed an offside on Hernandez. He gave away 6 yellow cards and gave Mexico a correct penalty.

Behave

Swiss Alps vs. Chilean Andes - Size Matters?

Swiss highest mountain, Monte Rosa: 4,634 meters.

Chilean highest mountain, Ojos del Salado: 6,880 meters. + 2246 meters

source: scaruffi.com

Goalkeepers
Benaglio 193 cm +10 cm
Bravo 183 cm

Defense
von Bergen 183 cm + 12 cm
Medel 171 cm

Midfield
Huggel 190 cm + 17 cm
Valdivia 173 cm

Forward
Derdiyok 190 cm +22 cm
Sanchez 168 cm

Swiss' average height: 183 cm + 7 cm
Chile's average height: 176 cm

With 5 Points Chile Qualifies, 6 Points May Not Be Enough

Obviously 9 points in Group H would be optimal, but let us play with numbers. If Chile gets 5 points, they are qualified to next round but if they get 6 points, they might not. How is that possible?

Dream Scenario
Chile qualified as Group H leaders, plays against Group G second place if ...

Chile - Honduras 1-0
Chile - Switzerland 1-0 (or higher)
Chile - Spain 1-0 (or higher)

Chile: 3 wins 0 draws 0 losses 3 Goals For 0 Goals Against +3 Goals 9 Points

Probable Scenario

If Chile wins over Switzerland with many goals and draws against Spain. They would be Group H winners and play against Group G seconds.

Chile - Honduras 1-0
Chile - Switzerland 5-0
Chile - Spain 0-0

Chile: 2 wins 1 draw 0 losses 6 Goals For 0 Goals Against +6 Goals 7 Points

Okay Scenario
Beating Spain seems near impossible today (maybe not tomorrow), but a draw against Switzerland and Spain would mean ...

Chile - Honduras 1-0
Chile - Switzerland 0-0
Chile - Spain 0-0

Swiss 7 points
Chile: 1 win 2 draws 0 losses 1 Goal For 0 Goals Against +1 Goals 5 Points
Spain 4 points

Assuming that both Switzerland and Spain beat Honduras mean that Switzerland is Group winner with 7 points and Spain are out with 4 points. Chile advances with 5 points and meet Group G winners (Brazil).

Nightmare Scenario
A nightmare would occur if Chile, Switzerland and Spain end up with 6 points, and Chile is knocked out due to goal difference. It could be possible if Chile beats Switzerland and losses against Spain. Switzerland then wins against Honduras with more goals than Chile did.

Chile - Honduras 1-0 Switzerland - Spain 1-0 Spain - Honduras 5-0
Chile - Switzerland 1-0 Switzerland - Honduras 5-0
Chile - Spain 0-5

Swiss: 2 wins 0 drawss 1 loss 10 Goals For 1 Goal Against +9 Goals 6 Points
Spain: 2 wins 0 draws 1 loss 10 Goals For 1 Goal Against +9 Goals 6 Points
Chile: 2 wins 0 draws 1 loss 2 Goals For 5 Goals Against -3 Goals 6 Points

Choices

Chile will play against Switzerland tomorrow, and they will probably not play with the same starting players as they did against Honduras. Why change a winning team? As I said in a previous post, Switzerland has a better player than Honduras in almost every position. Chile played very well against Honduras and should have won by several goals. But we did not have Suazo, who was injured and we know that he is deadly in the penalty area. Now he is eligible to play, which means that he may take the center forward spot. This will lead to changes in the starting squad, these will be now analyzed.

Defense?

Jara vs. Contreras

If Chile plays as they usually do, with 3 central defenders, two of them are already chosen, Medel and Ponce. The third last game was Isla, but I think that Isla will move up the field and be the right winger. There is a 7 year difference between these two players who have professional careers in Europe. Jara specialty is the aerial play and has a weakness in defending against quick players. It can be useful against Switzerland who have tall players, and none of them are technical geniuses. On the other side, we have Contreras, the team's Grandfather with his 32 years. He is a bit taller than Jara but not as good as him in the aerial play. He has lots of routine from playing years in different European clubs and his strength is reading his opponent.

My Choice? I would use Contreras because we are playing with 3 defenders and would need a wise player in the back. Medel played very good against Honduras, but Ponce made some mistakes that could have been vital. Jara could be good to throw in in the second half if we are chasing a goal.

Defensive Midfield?

Carmona vs. Millar

Two out of three places in the central midfield are after the first game already taken. It would take much to remove Vidal and Isla from the starting 11 after their plays against Honduras. The third spot is fought between Carmona and Millar, both players started last game. Neither of them did played badly but one must go. However Carmona was booked early and could miss the game against Spain if he is carded again, but Millar was replaced early in the second half against Jara. Could that mean the end of Bielsa's patience?

My Choice? I would choose Carmona because I like his style better. He is young but has experience from his years in Italy. He is a bit shorter and has never scored for La Roja, but his form is very good. Another alternative would be to play Tello in the left. He could brake up a tight Swiss defense better than Carmona or Millar would do.

Offensive Midfield?

Fernandez vs. Valdivia

For the creative midfield, or the number 10 role, we have these two play-makers. In the game against Honduras, Fernandez took the role as nr 10 and Valdivia was the center forward in the absence of Suazo. There is not really a big difference between the two except that Valdivia has had a better form in the latter games. But both players are extraordinary when they are in form. Fernandez won the award for South American Player of the Year in 2006, but has yet to prove after 4 years that he is worthy the prize in Europe. Valdivia is however the short magician that can do the unexpected with the ball. Before joining Al-Ain, he played as the play-maker in Brazilian top club Palmeiras. Although, Valdivia suffered a minor injury in the game against Honduras, reports say that he should be able to play tomorrow.

My Choice? I would start with Fernandez, just because Valdivia can't play for 90 minutes. Fernandez is the ordinary free-kick and corner taker, which has been his specialty in the preparatory games and against Honduras. If he does not play well, as he sometimes does, Bielsa should substitute him as early as possible because he is not the player that gets any better after a rough start. Valdivia always show that he is a good substitute by out-glowing his proceeder at the play-maker role.

Focus on our Rivals: Switzerland

Qualification: 1st in European Qualification Group 2 World Ranking: 18 Head Coach: Ottmar Hitzfeld Most Capped Player: Heinz Hermann 177 (1978-1991) Top Goalscorer: Alexander Frei 40 (2001-present).

Star Players: Tranquilo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen, Ger), Alexander Frei (Basel).

The Team: The Swiss National Team is by European standards, a relatively unknown team. They have two generations that have qualified for the World Cup. Between 1932 and 1966 they qualified for 6 World Cups out of 7 possible. Then in 1994 they made a comeback to the big stage and finally in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010 they participated. Today’s team has its strength in the defense. Giant players like Senderos and Huggel stand as towers in the mid-defense to protect the goalkeeper Benaglio. Much of Switzerland’s play go through the wings where there are players that run up and down and handing crosses to Nkufo who is a strong center. Many of the players are regulars in middle sized European clubs. Switzerland has league winners in Dutch champions Twente’s Nkufo and 3 players from Swiss champions Basel. They are Frei, Huggel and the talent Shaqiri, born in 1991. Other players who are key players in their clubs are: Benaglio, Lichtsteiner, Inler and Behrami, just to name a few.

How They Got Here: Switzerland was very fortunate in the qualification lottery and got the easiest group of the European qualification round. They only lost one game, a surprise lost against Luxemburg. The Swiss ended in first place above Greece, Latvia, Israel, Luxemburg and Moldova. They scored 18 goals for and got 8 goals against. Nkufo and Barnetta played all 10 games and top goal scorers were Frei and Nkufo with 5 each.

Form: The Swiss’ went on a cautious preparatory stage before the World Cup with only 3 International games where they lost against Uruguay and Costa Rica and got a draw against Italy. Those opponents were supposed to match their rivals at Group H. In the first game of the World Cup, Switzerland took an unexpected win against Euro champions Spain with 1-0. This win will give them an incredible amount of self confidence for the rest of the matches, especially Fernandes who scored the goal against Spain. However, their center defender Senderos got injured and will miss the game against Chile. Add Frei and Behrami to the list of players that might miss the next game due to injuries.

Our Chances of Beating You: Both Chile and Switzerland won their first games which puts the teams in an uncomfortable position because of the unexpected Swiss win against Spain. I would like seeing both of these teams advance to the knockout stage, but a draw here for Chile would mean that they could miss the next stage. A win here would put Chile on 6 points a lot closer to the knockout stage but not entirely there. Switzerland showed in their last game that they are a team that can win against giants Spain. However, I believe that it was a once in a lifetime shot because they won only by being effective. Spain owned the whole game but Switzerland scored in one of their 3 shots at goal. I do not think that Chile’s game is like Spain’s and Switzerland will not be forced to defending themselves during 90 minutes. That could open up their tight defense a bit more than it did against Spain. Also we have more players that will have more movement, especially on the wings. On the other hand, a draw here for Switzerland and a win against the spectators of Honduras will most certainly place them in the last 16. Chile and Switzerland have a different playing style, therefore it will be very interesting in seeing which kind of football will win, the Latin attacking with superior technique, or the mix of Italian, French or German that Switzerland could surprise us with. Hopefully they will have a game like they did when they lost against Luxembourg (!) in the qualifying round. However, we must remember that the Swiss team has a better player on every position in comparative to Honduras, which we only beat by one goal.

My Prediction: Chile – Switzerland 3-1

Round 1 Stats

I took the liberty to analyze the first round of the World Cup. The final result generate 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw, a loss get zero points. The amount of goals are also being counted. The total amount of points and goals are divided with the amount of teams of each continent. Australia and New Zealand belong here to Asia, and America is counted as one. I will let statistics speak for itself.

W=Wins D=Draws L=Loss

Points

1. America: 3 w - 4 d - 1 l: 1,63 point average
2. Asia: 2 w - 1 d - 2 l: 1,4 point average
3. Europe: 4 w - 5 d - 4 l: 1,31 point average
4. Africa: 1 w - 2 d - 3 l: 0,83 point average

Goals For

1. Asia: 5 Goals: 1,0 Goal average
2. America: 7 Goals: 0.88 Goal average
3. Europe: 11 Goals: 0.85 Goal average
4. Africa: 2 Goals: 0.33 Goal average

Goals Against

1. America: 5 Goals: 0.63 Goal average
2. Africa: 4 Goals: 0.67 Goal average
3. Europe: 9 Goals: 0.69 Goal average
4. Asia: 7 Goals: 1,4 Goal average
   

Chile - Honduras 1-0

Marcelo Bielsa decided to play the expected starting eleven, the only surprise would have been if Suazo started the game, but did not because of injury. Jorge Valdivia took his spot as the center attacker; however his ideal position is somewhat farther down the field, as an attacking midfielder. The game started, and Chile took commands right away. Honduras only lent the ball a few times and could not get any chance of scoring during the first half, besides for a free kick at the end of the half that Bravo could stop. Chile literally played with their opponents and the Honduran defenders where kept busy. The Chilean played short and fast, sometimes longer passes to Sanchez at the right.

I don’t know where FIFA found the referee, apparently from the Seychell Islands in the Indian Ocean, but I wonder if he has been a ref at this level. Carmona got a yellow card early on and it was probably not an offence at all. Mati was the second one to receive the yellow card after 19 minutes, it was also wrong. Honduras star player Wilson Palacios got booked after 33 minutes and as objective, I do not think that it was an offence at all. Sanchez should have received a free kick with him when he was brutally stopped by Honduran defender, the ref gave Honduras a goal kick. Nothing right so far by the ref. Hopefully he will not ruin the rest of the game.

In the first half Chile played well thought the whole field, Sanchez and Beausejour had good chances of scoring. Sanchez is hot and almost every attacking ball goes through him. However much of the time, he overplays it. Don’t worry Sanchez, you are great and your goal will come sooner than later. Jean Beausejour scored Chile’s first goal of the World Cup after a low center from Isla from the right side. It was a good play that resulted in a fine goal.

The second half started with a dangerous attacking attempt by Honduras where last man Medel could stop the Honduran, a suspicious penalty but replay show that it was a perfect tackle. Millar stepped out early in the second half, when he was substituted with Jara.

In the 64^th minute, the Honduras keeper stole a goal from Ponce, when he saved from a near header. It was most certain 2-0 for a second there. Honduras remain idle, their attempts on attacking are quickly stopped by the Chilean defense. Chile has control of the game and most of the scoring chances are ours. The last touch is always one too much.

Vidal was substituted against Contreras in the 81^st minute as Chile was strengthening their defense by attacking a bit more. Valdivia was substituted in the 87^th minute to Mark Gonzalez. It was a nervous last minutes of the game, but Chile won by 1-0 in a game that could have ended 5-0. Good Job! Switzerland – Run!

Notable after the game was that:

The World Cup has now started.

The referee will not judge the final.

For the first time in the tournament, I could hear a song from the crowd when Chileans sang “Vamos Chilenos…”. Burn the Vuvuzelas!

TV-commentators and studio praised Chile’s game, how young and fearless they were and also much about their great passing and movement. Medel stopped everything and everyone.

Mati has the brain, but he needs more muscle. His free kicks are always where they should be.

The best player was Sanchez; most of the chances came from his right side, and right behind him was Vidal, he was everywhere … love the crosses.

Chile has always a lot of players when attacking, watch and learn Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, New Zealand, France and many other teams.

As I said in a previous entry, Honduras qualified by luck and came as spectators to the World Cup.

It is a good day to be a Chilean, we have the most attractive football and the team played a perfect game. They controlled it from the first minute to the last, and not by defending themselves, read Italy, but by attacking and creating opportunities of scoring.

20 shot at goal, most of all teams this far.

GOOOOOOOL !!!

1-0 34' Beausejour (Assist: Isla)