by Mauricio Weibel
Santiago - Chile look forward to the 2010 World Cup with positive feelings from their impressive qualifying round and with the goal of putting an end to a history of football failures.
"We have a good enough team to win," Chilean players insist.
Under the leadership of Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa and Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez, these South American minnows are overflowing with confidence - a confidence that Chilean football only previously knew in 1962, when they came third in the World Cup that they played at home.
Chile are putting on attractive, solid play on the pitch. Whenever they play at home, fans are generous in their applause for Bielsa, widely regarded as the man responsible for Chile's best World Cup qualifiers ever.
The Argentine's tactics - and his obsession for attacking play even when his side is winning - are the core of Chile's game. And the team was only one point behind leaders Brazil en route to South Africa 2010.
"La Roja" ("the reds") are a compact team where players are not allowed "to stop fighting," in Bielsa's words.
They are quick to get the ball back, and then press forward equally fast. Throughout the qualifiers - even in the matches they lost - Chile always beat their rivals for ball possession, often lying at around 60 per cent.
The fast, creative Sanchez is the star of the team, along with centre-forward Humberto Suazo, the top scorer of the South American qualifiers with 10 goals.
Chile's main tool is their insistence to press forward, based on the creative skills of players like Sporting Lisbon's Matias Fernandez and Al Ain's Jorge Valdivia. That insistence rests among others on the age of players in a very young squad, averaging just 23.
Chile are faithful to their style, whether they play in Brazil or Argentina or against lower-profile rivals. They insist on attack, using the wings and with 5-6 players in the rival box.
Their greatest weakness is aerial play, particularly since many Chilean players are not very tall, and crosses into their box have given them several headaches.
Most of these players were part of the Chilean squad that came third in the 2007 Under-20 World Cup in Canada, and they are convinced of their chances of doing at least as well in South Africa.
It remains to be seen whether they can back up that confidence on the pitch in a high-profile tournament.
The Coach:
Marcelo Bielsa, 54, is a football fanatic, and he obsessively studies tactics and rivals alike. Nicknamed "El Loco," "the madman," he had a very short, injury-plagued career as a defender before joining his beloved Newell's Old Boys as coach in 1990. Bielsa coached clubs in Mexico, Spain and Argentina before getting an opportunity at the national-team level.
The brother of a former Argentine foreign minister and a former provincial governor, Bielsa added to the family's prestige by coaching Argentina 1998-2004. Players generally praise his methods, but critics have often slammed a lack of results. Under him, Argentina conspicuously crashed out of the 2002 World Cup in the first round though they had been regarded as among the favourites to take the trophy. However, he led them to the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics before resigning as coach.
In 2007, he took over command of Chile, and he became a Chilean national hero, despite a history of prejudice between Chile and his native Argentina. Bielsa has got generous praise across all sectors of Chilean society, and he is regarded as a prestigious orator in the South American country, well beyond the realm of football.
The Star:
Alexis Sanchez, 20, is Chile's key footballer. He started playing professionally at Chilean club Cobreloa in 2005, and within a year he had signed for Italian club Udinese. Loans with Chilean giant Colo Colo and Argentina's River Plate followed, an he finally joined Udinese in the summer of 2008.
The quality striker is capable of getting past three or four defenders in a row, with a colourful display of dribbling, speed and precise handling of the ball. Half of Chile's goals spring from his boots, either directly, as assists or as free kicks from the fouls of overpowered defenders.
Factfile:
Nickname: La Roja (The red one)
Founded: 1895
FIFA affiliation: 1913
Highest FIFA ranking: 6 - April 1998
Lowest FIFA ranking: 84 - December 2002
Previous World Cup appearances: 7 (1930, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1998)
Best World Cup performance: Third Place (1962)
Date qualified for finals: October 10, 2009
Sapa-DPA