Honduras v Chile

TEAM NEWS

Both nations are sweating on the fitness of a striker named Suazo. Honduran David Suazo, of Inter Milan, is struggling to recover in time from a leg muscle injury, while Chile's main goalscorer Humberto Suazo is nursing a left thigh problem.
Neither player was originally expected to feature in this game but both remain hopeful of being involved. If they miss out, Georgie Welcome of Honduras and Chile's Esteban Paredes are the favourites to take their place.
Honduras midfielder Julio Cesar de Leon has emerged as a doubt with a hamstring injury, although Tottenham's Wilson Palacios has overcome a thigh complaint. West Brom's Gonzalo Jara is poised to start in Chile's three-man defence, but midfielder Rodrigo Millar is struggling with a calf strain.

MATCH PREVIEW

The date of this match carries great resonance for both countries: Honduras made their World Cup debut 28 years ago to the day, while Chile earned their last World Cup victory on 16 June 1962.
That win for Chile, at the expense of Yugoslavia, was as host nation in the third-place play-off. They have since endured a 13-match winless run in World Cup finals, the equal-third worst sequence in the tournament's history.
Nonetheless, Chile are in confident mood after qualifying impressively for the first time since 1998. They finished second in the South American qualifying group, a mere point behind Brazil, and Argentinean coach Marcelo Bielsa has forged a dynamic, attacking side in a bold 3-3-1-3 formation.
For Honduras, victory is merely being in South Africa. Qualification for their second World Cup finals came when the USA denied Costa Rica with a 94th-minute equaliser, bringing welcome relief to Honduras after months of political turmoil. Nobody fancied them in 1982 either, but they held hosts Spain to a draw in their opening game and also took a point off Northern Ireland.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
-This is the first competitive match between these two nations.
- Chile lead Honduras by three wins to two in their five previous meetings. Honduras won 2-0 in the most recent encounter, in January 2009, with Carlos Pavon and Amado Guevara scoring in Florida.
Honduras
- Honduras are seeking their first World Cup victory. They drew two and lost one of their three group matches in 1982, conceding one goal in each game.
- They are winless in their last five matches, failing to score in four of them (D2, L3).
- Their biggest win against a South American side was a 2-0 quarter-final defeat of Brazil at the 2001 Copa America.
Chile
- Chile have only once progressed beyond the World Cup group stage in six attempts outside of their own country. In 1998 they reached the last 16, when they lost 4-1 to Brazil.
- Chile are winless in 13 World Cup games (D6, L7), the worst current run in the finals. Mexico also fared as badly between 1930 and 1962, while South Korea went 14 matches without a victory until 2002 and Bulgaria endured a record 17-match winless streak between 1962 and 1994.
- Chile have won eight of their last 10 matches prior to the World Cup, including the last three.
- Humberto Suazo was the top South American scorer in World Cup qualifying with 10 goals.
- Head coach Marcelo Bielsa was in charge of Argentina when they failed to progress from the group stage at the 2002 World Cup.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)
Assistants: Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon) & Bechir Hassani (Tunisia)
Fourth official: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_15/default.stm

Best set piece of the cup so far there ?

Yeah, how sad is that.

Yup, and there is also a lack on long range shots... I mean shots that don't float 10m over the goal when shooting from 25+ yards

another average game...