1. Claudio Bravo ***+Date of Birth: 13 April, 1983 Height: 184 cm Weight: 84 kg Foot: Right Caps: 43 Goals: 0 Club: Real Sociedad (Spain)
Claudio Bravo is the first choice goalkeeper of Chile, and has been for a while now. He is only 27 years old and has lots of experience. Bravo is the captain of the National team since Marcelo Salas retired from the team. During this last season, Bravo's Real Sociedad played in the Spanish second division where they played good enough to secure regulation to the first division. Bravo strength is his reflexes and has become somewhat of a penalty expert. He has also an unusual ability for goalkeepers, as he takes his team's freekicks. Notable was his goal, which can be seen here. Bravo's weakness lies in his height, he is a bit short to reach the tops of tall European or African players. He has also been injured for a month at the end of his club's season. Bravo is the only Chilean player that played all 1620 minutes in the South American qualification round.
12. Miguel Pinto ***Date of Birth: 4 July, 1983 Height: 183 cm Weight: 81 kg Foot: Right Caps: 14 Goals: 0 Club: Universidad de Chile
Miguel Pinto is a good reserve to Bravo. Pinto is the regular keeper of Universidad de Chile, having played for 30 games last season. U. de Chile is besides in the semi-finals of Copa Libertadores this season. Pinto played for Chile in the International friendly against Northern Ireland (1-0) without being put to a test. He has been awarded several prizes for his goalkeeping during his outstanding season in 2009.
Luis Marin participation came as a big surprise as there were other more experienced goalkeepers who were thought to take Chile's third spot for goalkeepers. Marin played in the loss against Mexico in the preparatory International friendly game. Marin is the tallest of the three goalkeepers, however the one with least experience of big matches. The World Cup is going to be a watch-and-learn experience for Marin.
No comments:
Post a Comment