Chile coach not taking friendlies lightly

Santiago (Chile), Nov 15 (IANS) Chile’s national football team coach Jorge Sampaoli said that the upcoming friendly matches against England and Brazil will be played as if they were World Cup games.

Chile play England Friday at Wembley Stadium in London, and Brazil on Nov 19 (Tuesday) in Toronto, reports Xinhua.

“To my way of thinking, the World Cup begins Friday and we have to play the matches as if we were at the world championship,” Sampaoli was quoted by Chilean media as saying on Thursday.

“The risk of playing against such powerful teams in such a short time means we are going to face tough rivals that will not permit the slightest error,” said Sampaoli, adding Chile had “to take advantage (of the challenge) as if it were the World Cup.”

Asked about the possible absence of injured midfielders Arturo Vidal, from Italy’s Juventus, and Jorge Valdivia, from Brazil’s Palmeira, Sampaoli said he hopes at least one of them will be able to play.

“Vidal’s absence is a big loss,” he said, adding Valdivia “will undergo a medical exam before this afternoon’s training, and if the results are good, we will speed up training. If not, we’ll wait for him to play in the match against Brazil.”

On the 2014 Brazil World Cup, the coach said there was potential for a South American team to come out on top, not discounting Europe’s leading teams.

“The Brazil World Cup is going to be closer to a South American team, though we have to be extremely careful of the strong European teams,” said Sampaoli.

“There’s a bonus in a South American World Cup that has to do with the surroundings, which could help a South American team have some kind of advantage,” he added.