Chile

Team Profile: Chilean football was introduced by the British. Chilean football began at the end of the last century, when British expatriates founded the Chilean Football Association in 1895. The Chilean team has reached the World Cup 7 times in history, with the best result achieved in the 1962 World Cup held on home soil. That time, the Chilean team took advantage of their home court to advance to the semi-finals. Although they lost to the powerful Brazilian team 2-4 in the semi-finals, they defeated Yugoslavia 1-0 in the third-place match and won third place. At the end of 2008, the famous forward Salas announced his retirement due to injury. Previously, he played 4 games for the Chilean team in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and scored 2 goals. The bald forward Suazo, who plays for the Monterrey team in the Mexican League, appeared in time and took over Salas's gun. The 28-year-old forward is strong and has comprehensive skills. He played in all 18 preliminaries of the Chilean team and scored 10 goals. His offensive power is amazing. The Chilean team participated in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and reached the top sixteen. Having missed two consecutive World Cups in 2002 and 2006, it is really surprising to qualify this time as second in South America. Argentinian coach Bielsa took the greatest credit, and the team's main forward Suazo also became the top scorer in the South American qualifiers with 10 goals. Midfielder Vidal, who plays for Juventus in Serie A, and Sporting Lisbon forward Fernandez are also important players for the Chilean team. Fernandez scored 4 goals in the qualifiers and is the team's second scorer. The current Chilean team is strong in offense and weak in defense. Their 22 goals conceded is also the most among the five South American qualifying teams. Coach Bielsa's next main task is to focus on building his defense line. Team honors: World Cup finals week Number of appearances: 8 (first appearance in 1930) Best performance: third place, 1962 America’s Gold Cup Number of appearances: 34 (first appearance in 1916) Best performance: runner-up, 1955, 1956, 1979, 1987 World Cup history: The Chilean team has reached the World Cup 7 times in history, with the best result achieved in the 1962 World Cup held on home soil. That time, the Chilean team took advantage of their home court to advance to the semi-finals. Although they lost to the powerful Brazilian team 2-4 in the semi-finals, they defeated Yugoslavia 1-0 in the third-place match and won third place. The level of Chilean football is in the middle of South America. Except for the third place on home soil, the Chilean team's other World Cup trips were miserable: they only made it out of the group at the 1998 World Cup in France with the outstanding performance of the famous "double Sasha combination" Salas and Zamorano on the front line and reached the top 16 (then lost to Brazil 1-4 in the 1/8 finals). In the remaining five World Cups, Chile has failed to advance out of the group. In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Chilean team qualified from the group with two wins and one loss. In the 1/8 finals, they lost 0:3 to the powerful Brazilian team and stopped in the top 16.