Crucial Week Ahead for La Roja Femenina
Chile's women face Cameroon in a playoff for Tokyo 2020 + updates from men's football including a brief review of the latest Primera Division and Sudamericana action.
Welcome back to another edition of my newsletter. If you are enjoying my coverage then please share with friends.
Chile vs. Cameroon - Tokyo 2020 Qualifier
It’s a massive two matches coming up for Chile’s women as they face Cameroon in a playoff to reach the Toyko Olympics. This clash was set to take place over a year ago with each side hosting one of the legs, but due to the pandemic, the teams will face off in Turkey this coming week in what is a pivotal moment for La Roja Femenina.
After their excellent showing on home soil in the 2018 Copa America, Chile were just a converted penalty kick away from making the last 16 in France 2019. Since then they managed to beat Brazil on penalties on home soil to claim the Torneio UBER Internacional de Futebol Feminino. Another mini-tournament victory followed in 2020 with the women lifting the Turkish Women's Cup - a tournament where they were the highest-ranked nation in it.
A disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Zambia at the end of last year (I previewed in detail here) has been their only real preparation away from the training ground. Chile were due to play a second friendly against the African side, but an a Covid outbreak in the Zambia camp meant it had to be cancelled. But key players head into this game in good form for their clubs at least. Christiane Endler at PSG is recognised as one of the best in the world, Carla Guerrero of Universidad de Chile was a standout defender in the Copa Libertadores Femenina that has just passed. While Striker Daniela Zamora impressed in that competition too and earned a move to the Swedish league off the back of it.
Many feel Cameroon have the edge with forwards Atletico Madrid's Ajara Nchout and CSKA Moscow's Gabrielle Onguene expected to give the Chilean backline plenty to think about. Overall it is quite a different squad to the one that went to France in 2019 as Cameroon look to freshen up their squad. Chile meanwhile will go into battle with much the same squad that has fought together so impressively in recent years under José Letelier. It should be a fascinating encounter.
The first match kicks off on Saturday 10th April at 11:00 while the second leg is on Tuesday 13th April at 12:00. (times given are Chilean time)
Chilean Primera Division - Matchday 2 Review - Católica on Top Again
After their most complete ninety-minute performance under Gus Poyet to date, Universidad Católica are now top, 2 points clear after two games played and you wouldn’t feel comfortable betting against them not staying there for another year. They easily controlled Palestino for large parts, with Los Árabes putting in another disappointing display. The match finished 2-1 and Palestino applied some late pressure, but overall this was a deserved win for UC.
Everton sit in second after claiming a 2-1 win away to Antofagasta, the team from Viña del Mar have looked one of the better sides so far in the league and claimed a dramatic win thanks to an injury-time winner from young centre-back Sebastian Pereira. Perhaps the most improved looking side overall is Audax Italiano who could have joined UC at the top on six points if it wasn’t for a missed penalty by the experienced Roberto Cereceda in the second half of their clash with O’Higgins - it finished 0-0.
It was a poor start to the season for Universidad de Chile who sat out Matchday 1, but only managed a draw against Huachipato in their season opener. La U were outplayed for significant periods of the game and were fortunate to get a point. Manager Rafael Dudamel is under huge pressure following an incident with the Chilean authorities after he broke Covid-19 protocols and held meetings with players and staff inside his home. The La U directors are said to be considering sacking him, while the Venezuelan is being eyed by Argentine club Huracan too. Whatever happens it feels like he won’t be in Chile at the end of the month.
Colo-Colo produced one of their best halves of football under Gustavo Quinteros to lead Cobresal 2-0 at HT last weekend. Los Albos were under real pressure for much of the second half in the mining town of El Salvador, but they claimed a deserved win in the end. Leonardo Gil in midfield impressed as did young defender Daniel Gutierrez at the back. The wayward and often unreliable Ivan Morales continued his resurgence with a brace.
Union La Calera deservedly beat Unión Española 1-0 in a hard fought clash while Deportes La Serena claimed a 2-0 victory over Curicó Unido. That match featured a lot of pre-match drama with Curicó only being able to find 11 fit players due to a Covid outbreak in their camp. The lack of subs told in the end with La Serena scoring two second-half goals - both scored by midfielder Sebastian Leyton who has started the season in stunning form.
The promoted pair of Melipilla and Ñublense played out a 1-1 draw together, but Ñublense will be kicking themselves for not taking all three points in that one.
U23 Player (s) of the Week
Tough to pick one out of Igancio Saavedra and Marcelino Nuñez of Universidad Católica. The pair controlled the midfield against Palestino in impressive fashion, working well in tandem. It would not be a surprise to see them playing together in the red of Chile one day. Saavedra is an intelligent defensive midfielder that enjoys recycling possession, but also reads the game well and can do an excellent man-marking job as he showed against Luis Jimenez in that victory over Palestino.
While Marcelino Núñez plays more advanced than Saavedra in the midfield three and was crucial in many of Católica’s most dangerous attacks. Núñez offers dynamism and quality on the ball in more advanced positions as well as his runs in the box being difficult to pick up - much in the mould of his current manager.
Special mentions to 19-year-old Gary Moya who impressed for Everton as did all the U23 outfield starters for Colo-Colo - right-back Jeyson Rojas, centre-back Daniel Gutierrez and striker Iván Morales.
Sudamericana 1st Round Review
Huachipato cruised into the group stages of the Sudamericana with a comfortable 4-0 aggregate victory over Antofagasta. The first leg was settled by an injury-time penalty that Huachipato captain Claudio Sepúlveda converted to give the side from the south a deserved lead in the tie. The 2nd leg this week saw Los Acereros score early and then ease through the gears to complete a 3-0 victory on the night. Youngster Nicolas Silva scored his first professional goal just minutes after coming on as a late sub to round off an excellent night’s work by Juan Luvera’s men.
They now face a pretty tough task to get out of the group stage of the Sudamericana. Luvera has stated their minimum aim is to go into the last matchday with qualification still to play for. That would be decent going for this inexperienced and fairly light looking squad.
In Santiago, Palestino sneaked past Cobresal in an unconvincing 2-1 victory on Thursday night after a dull first leg had finished 0-0 in El Salvador. Bryan Carrasco had given Los Arabes an early lead, but Cobresal dominated large parts of the game with Ivan Smith and Eduardo Farias impressing in the midfield. In the end, Jonathan Benítez’s strike around the hour mark was enough to send them through to the group stage where they also are set to face a tricky time especially if performances don’t pick up soon.
Men’s Libertadores 2021 Draw
After some tough group stage draws in recent years, Universidad Católica’s group of Nacional (Uruguay), Argentinos Juniors and either Atleticó Nacional or Libertad looks more navigable than most. The Chilean champions will fancy their chances of advancing. Meanwhile, Unión La Calera would need to cause a fairly big shock to emerge from a group featuring Brazilian giants Flamengo, Liga de Quito and Velez Sarsfield.
Chilean Primera Division - Matchday 3 Preview
Originally there was not meant to be fixtures this weekend owing to elections in the country. However those have been pushed back until May, so the ANFP decided to reschedule the third matchday of the season for this weekend.
Audax Italiano vs. Universidad Católica pits the two sides that have started the season well so should be an interesting encounter. Many eyes will be on whether Colo-Colo can continue their unbeaten start when they face O’Higgins on Sunday night. While if Universidad de Chile fail to beat La Serena in the afternoon then I think we can expect that to be the end of Rafael Dudamel’s stint as La U boss. Palestino vs. Everton should also be a good game to catch.
If you are have enjoying my coverage then please consider a small tip to help me keep awake and alert to all the latest goings-on in the mad and beautiful world of Chilean football: