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Subject: [NT] Chile WC
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World Cup gets underway this weekend. New Zealand's first match is against #4 seed Chile. As #4 seeds go, Chile wasn't a bad draw (compared to Estonia or USA), but a result in this one is far from assured.
RL Chile
Like New Zealand, one of the World’s most southerly countries. Chile occupies ~760k square kilometers of area (3 times New Zealand) and has a population of 16.5 million (~4 times New Zealand). It’s shape (a narrow strip 10 times longer then it is wide) is confined by geography - being bordered on one side by ocean and the other by mountains.
The government is a bicameral (two house) democracy. It has one of the stronger economies in South America, fueled by natural resources and tourism. New Zealand is amoung Chile’s significant trading partners, and there is a FTA between the two countries.
Spanish is the primary language, though Chilean Spanish is apparently a difficult version, spoken very quickly and with copious amounts of slang. Catholicism is the primary religion.
Sokker Chile
As a Sokker nation, Chile is into it’s 7th season - 6th for their NT. At 800 users, they are a rising power and have made some decent upward progress in the rankings the past few seasons. Chile qualified for both previous World Cups, but has not made it out of the group stage.
Chile qualified out of Group A - which was a reasonably friendly group. South Africa could potentially have given them trouble, but Chile handled them fairly easily. Chile gave second place Slovensko two very good matches, and also played Spain reasonably tough. Their manager
was re-elected on this solid qualifying performance.
Head to Head
Chile has an advantage in goal over New Zealand. Erick Mellado is an elite keeper, and is in divine form. With 73 caps, he is the Chilean all-time leader.
The Chilean defense, led by Marcos Rasmussen and
Julián Streeter, would appear to be equivalent to New Zealand’s and is, surprise surprise, in better form.
The Chilean manager made a bit of a mistake (IMO) playing his A-squad last week. As a result, Fermín Rojas, the team’s assist leader with 19 (and second in caps with 68) is suspended this weekend. This leaves Claudio Epulef (45 caps, 8 assists) as perhaps Chile’s most dangerous midfielder. The absence of Rojas balances Atkinson’s injury. The midfields are pretty comparable IMO.
New Zealand’s clear advantage in this one is up front. Chile relies on relatively young strikers such as Jaime Valentín (39 caps, 23 goals) and
Cesar Olavarría (25 caps, 17 goals). Chile’s strikers are in better form then New Zealand’s, which mitigates some of the advantage, but New Zealand still has the upper hand in this aspect.
New Zealand is the favourite, but the gap isn’t big, and is narrowed considerably by New Zealand’s poor team form. I expect the game to be close. A tentative line-up has been set, but will be adjusted after the final form update. It will be a pretty late game for New Zealand viewers (but quite comfortable for me :P).
RL Chile
Like New Zealand, one of the World’s most southerly countries. Chile occupies ~760k square kilometers of area (3 times New Zealand) and has a population of 16.5 million (~4 times New Zealand). It’s shape (a narrow strip 10 times longer then it is wide) is confined by geography - being bordered on one side by ocean and the other by mountains.
The government is a bicameral (two house) democracy. It has one of the stronger economies in South America, fueled by natural resources and tourism. New Zealand is amoung Chile’s significant trading partners, and there is a FTA between the two countries.
Spanish is the primary language, though Chilean Spanish is apparently a difficult version, spoken very quickly and with copious amounts of slang. Catholicism is the primary religion.
Sokker Chile
As a Sokker nation, Chile is into it’s 7th season - 6th for their NT. At 800 users, they are a rising power and have made some decent upward progress in the rankings the past few seasons. Chile qualified for both previous World Cups, but has not made it out of the group stage.
Chile qualified out of Group A - which was a reasonably friendly group. South Africa could potentially have given them trouble, but Chile handled them fairly easily. Chile gave second place Slovensko two very good matches, and also played Spain reasonably tough. Their manager
was re-elected on this solid qualifying performance.
Head to Head
Chile has an advantage in goal over New Zealand. Erick Mellado is an elite keeper, and is in divine form. With 73 caps, he is the Chilean all-time leader.
The Chilean defense, led by Marcos Rasmussen and
Julián Streeter, would appear to be equivalent to New Zealand’s and is, surprise surprise, in better form.
The Chilean manager made a bit of a mistake (IMO) playing his A-squad last week. As a result, Fermín Rojas, the team’s assist leader with 19 (and second in caps with 68) is suspended this weekend. This leaves Claudio Epulef (45 caps, 8 assists) as perhaps Chile’s most dangerous midfielder. The absence of Rojas balances Atkinson’s injury. The midfields are pretty comparable IMO.
New Zealand’s clear advantage in this one is up front. Chile relies on relatively young strikers such as Jaime Valentín (39 caps, 23 goals) and
Cesar Olavarría (25 caps, 17 goals). Chile’s strikers are in better form then New Zealand’s, which mitigates some of the advantage, but New Zealand still has the upper hand in this aspect.
New Zealand is the favourite, but the gap isn’t big, and is narrowed considerably by New Zealand’s poor team form. I expect the game to be close. A tentative line-up has been set, but will be adjusted after the final form update. It will be a pretty late game for New Zealand viewers (but quite comfortable for me :P).
i think you mean rather early ;]
a very good writeup, i for one had no idea we were a big trading partner for Chile!
a very good writeup, i for one had no idea we were a big trading partner for Chile!
I wouldn't be shocked if those defs are heavy on the def side, not nicely rounded like Watts.
nice bit of research seca.i wish i had as much spare time as u
lol. I have heaps of spare time at the moment. Doc says another 2 months before i can do anything with my leg. Meh.. im started to get very bored. Spending far too much time on pc.
btw. That is a cool write up Seca thanks. we lucky
(edited)
btw. That is a cool write up Seca thanks. we lucky
(edited)
Yes, I suspect those two are strong to defense (not unlike New Zealand's core - Watt's is a bit of an exception). I think Rasmussen is a little better rounded (based on anecdotal observations), tho I'm not sure he has much PM.
Think New Zealand caught another break with the injury to 4th defender Torrejon on Sunday. There doesn't appear to be much depth behind him. Palma, who seems to be #5 on the depth chart, is not impressive (I have scouting on him).
Think New Zealand caught another break with the injury to 4th defender Torrejon on Sunday. There doesn't appear to be much depth behind him. Palma, who seems to be #5 on the depth chart, is not impressive (I have scouting on him).
What are the expectations in Chile for the World Cup?
I think that the chilean expectation in WC is second fase, cause that means a progress whit the NT =)