CHILE

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Team Profile

With a fairly reasonable finish at France 1998 and a third-placed finish at the 2000 Sydney Olympics suggests that Chilean football is finally on the rise in time for Soccer World Cup 2010. Chile was able to make it past a difficult group stage in 1998 which included Ital, Austria, and Cameroon and only to be defeated by Brazil 1-4 in the Round of 16. Chile captured bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, defeating United States 2-0. Even with their rise in success, Chile has been unable to build on that momentum following Sydney and failed to qualify for World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 and World Cup Germany 2006. Few could have guessed then that it would be Chile’s last appearance in the World Cup in the next 12 years.

Chile was out in the qualifiers for the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup where they came bottom of the ten-team group, earning only 12 points from 18 matches that they played. Although their fortunes improved in the qualifiers for Germany 2006 when they went into the final rounds of games with a chance of making the play-off against Australia. However, the Chileans were forced to watch the drama of Germany 2006 unfold on their television sets as they lose to Australia in the playoff round.

Those two failed qualification campaigns have been followed by a number of changes to the country’s National Professional Football Association (ANFP). Veteran coach Nelson Acosta resigned following Chile’s quarter-final exit at the Copa America in Venezuela, prompting new president Harold Mayne-Nicholls to hire Argentinian Marcelo Bielsa, who guided the Albiceleste to gold in the Olympic Football Tournament at Athens 2004 and is set to coach in South Africa 2010.

Bielsa knows all the ins and outs of FIFA World Cup qualifying in South America, having lead Argentina to Korea/Japan 2002 and leaving them on the brink of Germany 2006 before relinquishing his post.

CONMEBOL Group Stage Standings

Official Site: http://www.anfp.cl/