Cameroon also fluked into the Cup, after Togo lost points on a technicality. And the team has bickered with its administration over bonus money. The signs are not auspicious.
Epic Mexican commentator: "We love you forever and ever...God Bless America!" - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: MEXICO - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: CAMEROON - YouTube
Striker Eduardo Vargas and midfielder Arturo Vidal were joint top-scorers for Chile in the qualifiers with five apiece — Australia rely heavily for goals on veteran Tim Cahill, who holds the national record of 32 in 68 appearances.
Socceroos quietly hope to spring a World Cup surprise against Chile
Virtually everyone has written off the Socceroos, and every day a new global media outlet steps forward with a fresh, data-assisted spin on the near-impossibility of their task. But Ange Postecoglou will surely be hoping that the disjuncture between appearance and reality, magically at work in the city that fans out around the Arena Pantanal, will somehow rub off on this Australian team, so easily cast aside in the global consciousness as a cute and willing band of friendly no-hopers.
The Socceroos take to the field on Friday night (8am Saturday AEST) in hope more than anything else, but the hope comes with a decent foothold in reasoned expectation. Performances in the warm-up games have traced an encouraging arc of improvement, and the starting XI now has a pleasantly settled, familiar look to it.
▶ World Cup Team Profile: AUSTRALIA - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: CHILE - YouTube