Country: Chile
Nickname: La Roja
Key Players: Alexis Sanchez, Humberto Suazo, Matias Fernandez
Rankings: 18 (FIFA), 7 (SPI)
History: Semifinals (1962), Knockout Round (1998), Qualified (1930, 1950, 1966, 1974, 1982)
Odds to Win: 66-1

“Love Beauty; It is the shadow of God in the Universe.” – Gabriela Mistral

Chile are not World Cup contenders, but they should be one of the most talked about teams. Instead of fielding a drab 4-2-3-1 and struggling to hold on, the Chileans will attack, with as many as seven men at a time. They will take the game to teams, make them uncomfortable and force them to react. It could be brilliant, or it could fail miserably. Regardless, defying the commonplace pragmatism is worthy of commendation.

Form: Chile finished second in South American qualifying, one point behind Brazil. They scored only one fewer goal, but allowed twice as many. In friendly wins heading into the tournament, they beat Zambia, Northern Ireland, Israel and New Zealand by a combined 9-0 margin.

Tactics: Marco Bielsa is tactically astute and has Chile playing an aggressive, up-tempo style. They will attack when they have the ball press them high up the pitch when they don’t.

Their formation is termed a 3-3-1-3. It looks like a 3-4-3 with a diamond midfield. Three defenders and a primarily holding midfielder will serve as the defensive core. The two wingers in the diamond are fullbacks in defense, but they burst forward and cut inside the auxiliary forwards in the front three. The goal is to create 2 on 1 mismatches along the wings. The head of the diamond is a trequartista-style playmaker with three forwards in front of him. It’s unusual and difficult for teams to defend.

Squad: Real Sociedad starter Claudio Bravo will be in goal. He will be fronted by Boca Juniors’ Gary Mendel, Chile-based and awesomely named Waldo Ponce and West Brom’s Gonzolo Jara. Reggina’s Carlos Carmona should be the holding midfielder in front of them.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Arturo Vidal (left) and Rodrigo Millar (right) will be the wingers with Sporting Lisbon’s talented 24-year-old Matias Fernandez in the play-making role. Udinese’s “Wonder Boy” Alexis Sanchez and CSKA Moscow’s Mark Gonzalez will flank lead-striker Humberto Suazo. The Real Zaragoza vet scored 10 goals during qualifying, including two against Brazil.  Though you could see Esteban Paredes if Suazo cannot return from injury.

Banned: FIFA banned Chile from the 1990 and 1994 World Cups because of the Roberto Rojas scandal. Chile was losing 1-0 to Brazil during the second half in a 1989 qualifying match. A loss would have eliminated them. Goalie Roberto Rojas went to the ground after apparently being hit by a missile. On orders from his coach, he was carried off on a stretcher. Chile refused to continue the match, claiming it was unsafe. Subsequent video evidence showed that the missile had not touched Rojas. He had self-inflected his wound and the team doctor filed a false report. All three received lifetime bans from FIFA.

Absent Star: Chile’s best player, Roma midfielder David Pizarro, will not take part in the tournament. He’s one of the most underrated players in Europe, a deep playmaker who can pick out sublime passes all over the pitch. He’s also very solid defensively and was essential to Roma’s excellent season that nearly saw them win Serie A. The 30-year-old left the Chilean team in 2005 after two failed qualification campaigns and personal issues. He would have made this Chile team far more formidable.

Prediction: Chile will be spectacular or fail spectacularly. Whatever the outcome it will be fascinating. They are on a strong run of form. They should befuddle second-tier teams. I see them advancing from the group, most likely meeting their demise against Brazil in the first knockout round.

Interesting Fact: Chile is 2,672 miles long and only 108 miles wide.

[Photo via Getty]

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group C: England, United States, Slovenia, Algeria
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile