2010 FIFA World Cup: Chile Perfect in Three Friendlies as Cup Approaches

With the World Cup less than two weeks away, many different squads throughout the football world played friendlies this week in preparation.

Chile played three friendlies in the last week against Zambia, Northern Ireland, and Israel respectively, as la Roja head to South Africa.

The first friendly against Zambia was on May 26 at the Municipal de Calama, and it did not start off according to plan for Chile.

Zambia were able to hold possession for significant amounts of the first half, which was surprising as they only arrived in Chile the night before after being delayed in South Africa following a previous friendly.

As a result, the match was scoreless at the break.

In the second half, Alexis Sanchez proved to be the man of the match with two early goals; with another late goal from Jorge Valdivia, Chile beat Zambia 3-0

After this win, Chile decided to play two friendlies in a 24-hour span right before their final roster was due to FIFA. 

First up was Northern Ireland at the Estadio Municipal Nelson Oyarzún Arenas in Chillán, where Chile were able to show that they are on the verge of being completely ready for the World Cup.

In the Northern Ireland match, Chile were miles ahead of an inexperienced Northern Ireland squad, and dominated the match in a 1-0 win. The only goal came from Esteban Paredes in the 30th minute off a corner.

Marcelo Bielsa got ready to name his next roster against Israel several hours later.

Against Israel, Chile continued to perform well. They went to the Estadio Municipal de Concepcion in Concepcion with a much stronger lineup than the one that was employed against Northern Ireland.

Evidence of that strength was clear in Chile's 3-0 win. A first half goal from Humberto Suazo plus a goal from Alexis Sanchez and a brilliant stoppage time strike from Rodrigo Tello proved to be enough for Chile to dominate again.

The Chilean team has one final friendly against New Zealand at the Ingwenyama Sports Grounds in Nelspruit on Wednesday, June 9 before the World Cup.

In the World Cup, Chile have Group H matches on June 16 against Honduras at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, on June 21 against Switzerland at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, and on June 25 against group favorite Spain at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.