GROUP H: CHILE v SWITZERLAND:THESE CLASHES of nation and temperament are what make the World Cup. The South Americans have a lineage that dates back to the original World Cup and they recorded their first finals win in 40 years last week. The Swiss bring their patience and their zaniness.
In Cape Town on Saturday night, a middle-aged man wearing a ridiculous cowboy hat festooned in the Swiss colours took a seat near some England fans, produced a plastic alpine horn which he assembled with the help of his mate and then blew a perfect rendition of The Last Post.
Given the general mood, he was lucky the funeral march didn’t precede his own swift death but a few of the English fans laughed and most just ignored him. He proceeded on his way, delighted with himself.
The Swiss cannot quite get over what has happened to them here. Their victory over Spain has been the one true upset of this World Cup. It was achieved in a uniquely Swiss way also, with a stout-hearted refusal to be either intimidated or impressed by beautiful patterns which the Spanish aristocrats played through them. As Ottmar Hitzfeld said with delightful understatement afterwards, Switzerland managed to secure “three very unexpected points”.
Now, they have to repeat the act against Chile. The revival of the Chileans is largely down to their coach, Marcelo Bielsa, who along with Diego Maradona is doing much to enhance the prestige of unorthodox football men from Argentina. Bielsa became known as “The Madman” during the six years he coached his native country and when he took over at Chile, he imposed a policy that was on the extreme side of fearless, banking completely on a new generation of players to qualify for this tournament.
A third-place finish in the Under-20 World Cup laid the foundation for what would follow, with defender Gary Medel and Alexis Sanchez, the Chilean “wonder boy”, key members of that team. Now, with the emotional high of a World Cup win behind them, they have a strong chance of making it to the second round for the first time since 1998, when three draws was sufficient for them to advance.
They will wait until the last hour before deciding whether Humberto Suazo, their prolific striker, is fit enough to resume his place in the team. Even if Suazo is rested, they have attack-minded players in Mark Gonzalez, the winger who spent some time at Anfield, Jean Beausejour, scorer of the winning goal and Sanchez, who has the flair and the form to contribute something special to this World Cup. They also have a defender with the best name in world football in Waldo Ponce.
“We definitely have to be careful because with very little possession the Swiss still managed to beat Spain, “said Gary Medel.
“We know that we have to be much more mobile than the Spanish, to create some space, to open up their defence which looks very closed.”
Switzerland’s solid and unapologetically conservative set-up may be considerably weakened now that Philippe Senderos has been ruled out of the next two games through injury. But they cannot expect the gods to gift them with the breaks they got against Spain. Nor can they bank on Chile suffering from the inexplicable stage fright in front of the goal that seemed to grip the Spanish.
This is the classic match-up of hot and cold, with Chile, loyal to their colourful and controversial World Cup history, and Switzerland just determined to advance through sheer stoicism and the tactical acumen of Hitzfeld – who gave the perfect description of managing Switzerland when he said it was “a good transition to retirement”.
But he may have to deal with some more excitement in the meantime.
Both teams have a chance here to claim top spot in their group and Chile have the adventure and skill to make the most of it today.
