Chile Stunners

When a game is so good that I am willing to watch it from the dentist's chair, you know it's one for the books.

Chile have been the team to watch from my point of view in the U20s. They're weren't grand or immensely built up, but just made up of damn good, learning players.

That is the key. I've seen the Chileans improve by bounds as the tournament progressed. Even with the scuffle that led to a few cracked buses, those lad were getting white hot as they played more and mroe matches.

To the point that the third place Chile vs. Austria (1-0) match was far better than the Czech Republic vs. Argentina final (1-2).

Not that the final was terrible, but there were far too many yellow cards being handed out for my liking. You know why - the little Argentinians tried to get the ref sympathetic to their plight at the hands of the gargantuan Czechs.

One of my colleagues is Slovakian - he is the tallest man I have ever met.

Anyway, the Czechs fought back and feighned death almost as many times as those "Damned over-dramatic Argentinians," as my mate K calls them.

You have to love Canadians; I could hear fans' boos directed at every fallen player on the pitch, genuine and otherwise.

Back to Chile, I cannot help but recall that old football question:

Why would anyone want to be a goalkeeper?

Certainly, most club owners are all about buying and selling the poor bastards - read the "Goalkeeper's Revenge" if you don't believe me.

That day was an excellent one to be a goalkeeper, if you were Chilean, that is. This fellow, Toselli, is the one to watch in the next few years of deensive play. He was everywhere, willing to die to keep the ball out of the goal. At one point he stopped the ball and then flung forward to stop it again, and looked like he tore his leg in half.

The moment of the match was a final minute save Toselli made when he jumped backward and slapped away the ball in mid-air as it was on the goal-line.

My heart literally skipped on that one. The Austrians had begun to celebrate the supposed goal until it was discovered that Toselli had dashed their hopes for a penalty shoot-out.

I mean, that leap could have ended with the poor fellow breaking his neck. He literally had no landing plan, and indeed ended up falling on one of his defenders.

Although I played defence for the most part, I have played goalie on occassion and I know that it takes far more than what I have to give up life and limb for that ball in a position that brings little accolades and much stigma with it. Few people other than goalies know what it means to be the final line of defence.

Big up to Toselli; I wish him the very best for the future.