Confederations Cup 2017 final: Tim Vickery charts how unfancied Chile rose from anonymous also-rans to face Germany in Russia’s showpiece final on Sunday
- Radical overhaul a decade ago means Alexis Sanchez and Co face Germany in Sunday's final
- Their all-action pressing style has transformed them in two-time Copa America winners
- But how much gas does this ageing side have in the tank ahead of next year's World Cup?
CHILE have seen off Lionel Messi and Argentina… twice.
They came through penalty shoots outs to win the 2015 Copa America on home soil, and then a year later repeated the feat in the USA in a special centenary version of the Copa.
And now they have seen off Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal – again after a shoot-out – to make it through to Sunday’s final of the Confederations Cup.
After playing for nearly a century without getting their hands on any serious silverware, Chile are in with a chance of winning their third title in three years.
And if the team has two players of undoubted world class – Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal – many of the supporting cast are not exceptional.
Some – the likes of Mauricio Isla, Gonzalo Jara, Jean Beausejour and Eduardo Vargas, for example – passed through English football with barely a ripple.
Claudio Bravo, the hero of Wednesday’s shoot out, caused plenty of ripples last year with a very shaky season in Manchester City’s goal.
But Bravo captains a national side that are by a massive distance the best that his country have ever come up with.
So how have they done it? The answer lies in the power of an idea.
Back in 2004 I met Elias Figueroa, a candidate to be considered Chile’s all time best player.
A centre back whose career included the World Cups of 1966, '74 and '82, he put his finger on the problem.
“We’ve never had an identity,” he said.
“There have been times when we’ve tried to copy Brazil, or Argentina, or Germany. But there has been no consistent process of developing our own identity.”
All that was soon to change.
Ten years ago Chile paraded an interesting generation in the Under-20 World Cup, where they came third.
Sanchez, Vidal, Isla, Gary Medel were all part of that team. And then Marcelo Bielsa took charge of the senior side.
A former Argentina boss, Bielsa is one of the most respected coaches in the game, one of the few people Pep Guardiola consulted before stepping up to take charge of Barcelona, and the biggest influence on the career of Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino.
Many thought the good times had come to an end when Jorge Sampaoli jumped ship at the start of last year but under Juan Antonio Pizzi things have got even better
He inherited a group of young players who were talented, ambitious and keen to learn, and he put his imprint all over them.
Obsessed with attack, Bielsa looks to strangle the opponent in their half of the field.
Both full backs are thrown forward at the same time as the team look to create two against one situations down the flanks.
A key idea is that of having numerical superiority wherever the ball is.
Chile attack in numbers, giving the man on the ball plenty of options for a quick pass.
And when the move breaks down they look to swarm all over their opponent and stop the counter attack at source.
It is a model of play that proved an instant hit. Chile produces plenty of quick players with a low centre of gravity, ideal for the flank roles.
But they usually lack height – it made sense, then to defend far from their own goal, ensuring that dangerous crosses are not played into their area.
And if the team were going to defend high, then Gary Medel, the little ‘pitbull’ once of Cardiff City, could be withdrawn from the midfield to centre back, where his combative tackling and shrewd range of passing could shine.
Bielsa’s Chile briefly lit up the 2010 World Cup before falling to Brazil.
By 2014 the coach was another Argentine, Jorge Sampaoli, a self-confessed Bielsa disciple.
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He added a little more pragmatism – Chile’s style of play can leave them alarmingly open to the counter-attack – and was rewarded with an impressive performance in the World Cup in Brazil, eliminating reigning champions Spain and losing to the hosts on a penalty shoot-out – after Chile had rattled the bar with the last kick of the game.
Twelve months later, though, the shoot-out went Chile’s way in the Copa America final on home soil against Argentina, and at last they had something to put in their trophy cabinet.
Many thought that the good times had come to an end when Sampaoli jumped ship at the start of last year, but under the low profile but impressive Juan Antonio Pizzi, things have got even better.
They are a little less adventurous. Bielsa preferred a back three, and Sampaoli switched between a line of three and four.
Chile stars who failed to shine in England
Eduardo Vargas (above)
Aged 27, 76 caps
Striker moved on loan to QPR in 2014 from Napoli but it came to an end after three goals from 21 games as Rangers were relegated.
Gary Medel
Aged 29, 101 caps
Cardiff splashed £11m to sign him in 2013 but he left a year later to Inter Milan when they were relegated
Mauricio Isla
Aged 29, 90 caps
Spent 26 games on loan from Juventus at QPR in 2014/15, but left at the end of the season without scoring a single goal.
Gonzalo Jara
Aged 31, 106 caps
Joined West Brom for £1.4m in 2009, and was released in 2013 after loan spells at Brighton and Nottm Forest.
Jean Beausejour
Aged 33, 94 caps
Moved to Birmingham for £4m in 2010 and after 39 games moved to Wigan, where he saw out his contact and left in 2014 after 85 games.
Pizzi never strays from a back four, and works inside a basic framework of 4-3-3. But the idea remains the same.
When possible Chile look to attack in numbers, with both full backs high up the pitch.
The key question, though, is for how long this will be possible.
Chile’s style of play is draining, requiring high intensity and constant movement.
They are an ageing side who are playing their fourth consecutive end of season tournament.
How much gas do they have left in the tank?
Will Sunday’s final prove a last hurrah for the current side, or are they capable of coming back a year from now and rounding it off with a great World Cup?