South America
Chilean Football Is On The Rise
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Nick Dorrington
Things are looking pretty good for Chilean football right now. The national side is on the verge of qualifying for their first World Cup since 1998; the U-21’s have just won the Toulon youth tournament; and the country’s most famous coaching export, Manuel Pellegrini, has recently taken charge of what is shaping up to be the most expensive Real Madrid side ever constructed.
It is all a far cry from Chile’s failed attempts to reach the 2006 World Cup. A seventh place finish in the ten team qualifying group ultimately led to the resignation of coach Nelson Acosta. More worrying was the apparent scarcity of future star names on the horizon to replace iconic figures like Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano. Chile had the hallmarks of a nation gripped by a football depression.
It was then, however, that newly elected football association president Harold Mayne-Nicholls pulled off a masterstroke by appointing Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, fresh from a three-year exodus from the game following his resignation as coach of his home nation. What Bielsa has done in two years is quite extraordinary. Not only has he given Chilean football an identity, but in doing so he has sewn the seeds for future success.
Bielsa has always been a man very much entwined to the military notion that attack is the best form of defence, and his Chile side’s cavalier attitude has made them the most eminently watchable side throughout the qualification process. By attempting to press teams back by attacking in numbers his side are sometimes exposed on the counter-attack, as 3-0 home defeats to Paraguay and Brazil will attest, but when it comes off Chile are nothing short of scintillating.
Taking advantage of a fruitful generation of wide-men and attacking midfielders, Bielsa’s 3-3-1-3 formation uses the full width of the field high up the pitch, attempting to suffocate opponents into errors. Once his side get the ball, quick passing interchanges open up the field for a switch out wide, where his wingers run riot.
Bielsa subscribes to Charles Reep’s philosophy on the effective deployment of wide-men. There is little unnecessary flash, just quick players who can stretch the opposition defence and make telling contributions once they get into dangerous areas. In addition, the winger on the opposite side of the pitch to that on which the play is being built is instructed to come in at the far post to offer an additional penalty area threat.
The ideas are very similar to those he implemented during his time in charge of Argentina. But while Bielsa was often guilty of trying to shoehorn players into a formation that didn’t really suit their natural strengths with the Albiceleste, in Chile he has found players perfectly suited to his tendencies.
The front four of Alexis Sanchez, Matias Fernandez, Mark Gonzalez and Humberto Suazo have started seven of the last eight competitive internationals, and between them form a formidable attacking unit, each complementing each other perfectly. Suazo’s ability to drop a little deeper and link up the play has made him a far less isolated figure than Gabriel Batistuta often was for Bielsa’s Argentina. Fernandez and the two wide-men each offer pace to burn and a genuine goal threat.
While all have made telling contributions, it is Sanchez who is currently earning the lion’s share of plaudits. He has made a positive impression in his first season in Italian football with Udinese, and his starring performances for the national team have even seen him linked with Manchester United as a potential replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. It is no coincidence that River Plate’s recent downfall coincided with the tricky winger’s return to Udine last summer.
The senior national team are riding high, but success isn’t solely their preserve. Ivo Basey’s U-21 team capped an excellent tournament by defeating France 1-0 in the final of the recent Toulon youth festival. The result came a year after Bielsa had led the side to a runners-up finish at the same tournament and proved that the future is just as bright as the present.
The positive coverage is plentiful, but those inside the Chile camp are trying not to get carried away. “There is still a lot to be decided, and we our not yet assured of qualifying,” Sanchez told El Mercurio following the 4-0 win over Bolivia. Playmaker Jorge Valdivia echoed his teammate. “We are close to South Africa but it could still be far away if we do not continue our current level of concentration and application,” he warned.
The last word, though, must go to Bielsa. “We share the excitement of the supporters, but football is never predictable and the numerical reality is that we are yet to obtain the points necessary to qualify.”
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