Chile show promising signs despite Germany defeat

If there exists such a thing as a good defeat, then Chile´s 1-0 loss against Germany was the perfect example.

Stuttgart – This was La Roja´s last major test before the World Cup finals in June and they wanted to put down a marker to show that they are a team to be reckoned with.

And you only had to see the looks of anguish and frustration on the face of Germany coach Joachim Low and hear the boos of the German fans to know that Chile achieved their goal.

Ironically, that was the one thing that Jorge Sampaoli´s reshuffled side lacked in this match – the goal. Their pressure play, swift, incisive passing and ability to create chances were all in fine working order.

On another day, they could easily have scored three or four goals. With a little bit of fine tuning and a touch of good fortune, there is reason to believe that Chile can give as good as they get in their testing World Cup group against holders Spain, Holland and Australia.

If the likes of Eduardo Vargas, Alexis Sánchez and Arturo Vidal find their shooting boots, who knows how far Chile can go? At times, they made the Germans look decidedly ordinary.

Yet the Germans know how to win when not at their best and Mario Gotze’s excellently taken 16^th-minute goal after some neat build-up play gave the hosts a lead they somehow held on to.

Chile keeper Johnny Herrera, in for injured captain Claudio Bravo, must have thought he would be in for a busy night, but he had relatively little to do. He spread himself well to deny Gotze a second in the second half, but 2-0 would have been a travesty.

Vidal had a header cleared off the line by Germany captain Philipp Lahm before the goal and that set the scene for Chile’s evening.

Juventus midfielder Vidal fired straight at the keeper from another fine opening and Charles Aránguiz´s shot was deflected narrowly wide as La Roja attempted to draw level before the break.

In the second half, Chile sliced through the Germany defence like a knife through butter, but the final ball never fell right. The closest they came to an equaliser was when Eduardo Vargas cracked a shot against the crossbar after excellent work from Sánchez on the right.

When the dust settled, Chile boss Sampaoli was able to reflect on an encouraging night´s work.

He said: “All the points were positive in the game, except the result. The bravery and the quantity of attacks that we had mean that the balance is very positive.

“It gives us confidence that we can go head-to-head with anyone and play a good World Cup.”

Nottingham Forest defender Gonzalo Jara said: “We created the opportunities and just needed to improve the finishing. We defended well and we went out to attack them.

“We played an excellent game and we didn´t deserve to lose.”

Stand-in skipper Gary Medel, of Cardiff City, added: “The result wasn´t what we wanted, but it leaves us with a good feeling with regards to the World Cup.”

Tags: Chile, Football, Jorge Sampaoli, La Roja