Ten years ago Chile played in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Ten years ago, the team Jorge Sampaoli He won a very tough match against Australia in his debut.
Ten years ago, La Roja beat Spain, current world champion and eliminated him in the first round. It was at the Maracaná stadium, a venue filled with national fans who sang a stirring national anthem, one of those that is remembered for a long time.
A decade ago, already classified to the second round, punctured against Hollandwhen it was not called the Netherlands, when it was not played well and it was lost fairly.
Ten years ago, in Belo Horizonte, with a crowd against, Chile was close to eliminating Brazil. The local team suffered like few times in their own home, against a team that, before going to the penalty shootout, He shook the crossbar with a shot from Mauricio Pinilla. In the definition, Chile was less effective and said goodbye to the World Cup in the round of 16. The same phase as in France ’98, South Africa 2010 and against the same rival. Were the three eliminations the same? Of course not. Same phase, different game, different competition, different teaching.
After being eliminated in Brazil 2014, the group felt the blow. Internally they felt that they were prepared for a greater leap and they had to endorse it with results. The next commitment was the Copa América that would be played in Chile the following year.. She had to be won. It wasn’t like it was. Not with speech based solely on will. You had to be better, play better, learn from mistakes, tighten certain pegs, reinforce concepts. Convince and convince. And they did it. Twice, once at home, once in North America.
Some, very few, continue to wear the Red. The rivals have grown. Chile reached the top and collapsed. He tries to reconstruct the path he has traveled, understanding that he never starts from scratch. It takes advantage of what many consolidated ten years ago. The greatest triumph of the golden generation began with a painful defeat on penalties against Brazil. And we were extremely happy after that.
On Friday Chile debuts against Peru in the 2024 Copa América.
