Chile Defeats Bolivia 2-0

The match was at home for Bolivia, in La Paz. Conditions were harsh, a 3650 meter altitude along with a substandard field played a big factor. It was assumed that the task wouldn't be so complicated for Chile. They didn't play so well in the first half, but Charles Aránguiz (Universidad de Chile) managed to score during the last  few seconds before the first half ended. Their pace improved during the second half when Bolivia was reduced to 10 men after Luis Gutierrez was sent off in the 54th in a straight red card for making a strong foul on Alexis Sanchez. Arturo Vidal scores in the 83rd minute, shortly after Eduardo Vargas get substituted in for Suazo. Overall, Chile suffered more than what was needed to stay within the 2-0 win against a weak opponent, currently poor in football, and without tactical variants. This victory currently puts Chile in second place standings behind Argentina in the South America qualifiers for the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Chile is scheduled to play their upcoming qualifier match next week against Venezuela on 6/9/12, 6:35PM EST.

Chile ties with Ghana

In a match that had everything, Chile tied with Ghana at PPL Park in Philadelphia, where Claudio Borghi set off speculations to an alternative route for the future in Brazil 2014. Chile came out strong and with vigor led by Matias Fernandez that was active and important piece'd  up with Gary Medel, the best on the field. Alexis Sanchez also proved his quality at times but abused his leadership. Despite this, Ghana had the clear advantage over Chile in the first half with a header from John Paintsil that shook Claudio Bravo. Until the 41 ', Jose Rojas was caught by Richard Mpong and beat Bravo with right cross for 1-0. At 60 ', Matthew Campos was expelled for a second yellow when he fouled Sanchez in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick, taken by Matías Fernández  who scored the equalizer. In summary,  Borghi took this match as a  preparation and training for his team to reach the 2014 World Cup.

Napoli Signs Eduardo Vargas

Napoli announced the signing of Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas once the January 2012 transfer window opens. Vargas will leave Universidad de Chile with the respect of his club on a deal worth an estimated $15.7 million. Vargas was being scouted by many top clubs in Europe, which include Chelsea, Valencia, and even Bayern Munich. In the end however, he chose Napoli. The 22 year old Chilean scored 17 goals in 51 matches for Universidad over the past two seasons and scored twice for Chile in a 3-2 loss to Spain in a friendly in September. I think Napoli made a good decision to go out and sign Vargas and believe that they just got a lot tougher offensively, and overall harder to beat.

Chile Wins Paraguay Friendly

The clash this Wednesday evening between Chile and Paraguay took place in La Serena, and ended in a 3-2 victory for the local Chileans. The Red showed a lot of mobility in the first half, ahead with a 1-0 lead scored by Sebastián Pinto in the 19th minute, who later finished the game with a hat trick. Additionally,  Mathias Vidangossy and Fernandes Junior were gradually getting into dangerous positions, always creating danger on the basis of technique and speed. In the second half, Paraguay scored two consecutive goals in the 52nd and 56th minute by Edgar Benitez and Julio Manzur, one of them being a penalty. Chile quickly made a comeback and scored the additional two goals in the 62nd and 74th minute, both of them being from Pinto. Overall, the match had good conclusions, a victory over a match that had been complicated in the second half and was reestablished efficiently and neatly. Although this match was nothing more than a friendly between two second division national teams, coach Claudio Borghi was able draw many speculations and overall conclusions reguarding possible offensive alternatives to valueable strikers Humberto Suazo and Esteban Paredes, who are unlikely to participate in the upcomming 2014 World Cup qualifications due to injuries.

Barcelona VS Santos Club World Cup Final

All eyes will be on Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup final clash between FC Barcelona, heir defender of the beautiful game, and Santos FC, living proof that the Brazilian economic machine is growing enough to feed its own talent in their league. Barcelona could be forced to make an appearence without the services of Alexis Sanchez in Sunday's Club World Cup final clash with Santos. The Chilean winger picked up an abductor muscle injury in Thursday’s semi-final victory over Al Sadd, and is now a major doubt for the tournament decider. The absence of Sanchez would be a blow for Barca as the forward has been in fine form of late and was on target in last weekend's Clasico victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. In addition to injuries, David Villa’s possible season-ending injury against Al Sadd leaves Barcelona in a major setback with offensive players, while Santos is not dealing with any major injuries and is hoping to end the four-year winning streak of European clubs.

Suazo ruled out of the Mundial de Clubes

Suazo twisted one of his ankles during the match against Kashiwa Reysol on the 11th and was ruled out to play for the fifth place match in the tournament against Esperance of Tunisia. Monterrey came into the match as a favorite against Kashiwa, which led to overtime after a 1-1 draw in the 93rd minute, and ultimately a penalty shootout resulting in a 1(4)-1(3) loss for Monterrey. Although Monterrey had much more scoring opportunities in comparison to Kashiwa, Kashiwa ended up being the better team when the penalties came around. Officials say that Suazo must be at least two weeks inactive due his sprained ankle, which ends his participation in the Mundial de Clubes.

Barca Wins 'El Classico' Vs Real Madrid 3-1

After being 3 points behind Real Madrid, Barcelona is now in first place standings in the Spanish Division. After being down 1-0 in the first 30 seconds of the match by a goal from Karim Benzema, Alexis Sánchez scored the equalizer in the 30th minute, with an additional 2 goals by Xavi in the 53rd and Fàbregas in the 66th. Ronaldo could have tied the score in the 65th but his open header from a few yards out went wide. It was a pretty awful match for Ronaldo, I'd imagine many of his fans finished watching the match in disappointment. With a win, Real Madrid would have moved into a commanding position, and would be trailing with a 6 point lead in the league.