Prediction: Chile vs Switzerland

June 19th 2010

Switzerland produced the biggest surprise of the round by beating Spain in their opening game and they are now on the verge of qualifying for the next round, but the problem is Chile have the same ambitions after the narrow win over Honduras.

Having arrived to the World Cup as one of the strongest South American sides, Chile completely justified the tag with their impressive performance against Honduras. Marcelo Bielsa’s players were flying all over the pitch throughout the game and were unlucky not to have scored more than one goal. Their unbelievably fast transition of the ball will be something all their opponents will find hard to cope with, while La Roja certainly look like the fittest side at the tournament. With players like Sanchez, Isla and Vidal on top of their game, Chile look too strong for Switzerland at the moment. Humberto Suazo is the only injury worry for La Roja.

Otmar Hitzfeld masterminded the first ever win over Spain by opting for a defence-minded tactics, which La Furia Roja were unable to cope with. Obviously, Spain were the better side on the day and they missed a host of clear-cut chances, for which they were later punished when Gelson Fernandes scored the winning goal for Switzerland. Nevertheless, I cannot really say I was impressed by the Swiss and it looks as though they don’t have enough in them to cope with the enthusiastic Chile side. The boss is still without key players, Behrami and Frei, while the ones that played against Spain will certainly have been worn out after such a difficult game.

Conclusion

The lucky win over Spain cannot change the fact Switzerland don’t have the quality or pace to match the spirited Chile side and if La Roja repeat the performance from the Honduras game, they will win this game as well.

Verdict: Home win Chile(1)

Best Odds: 11/8

Bookmaker: William Hill