Group H action begins on Wednesday at Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, between Honduras in only their World Cup appearance, and Chile returning after 8 years. Chile have won 3 of their previous 5 meetings. Both teams would vie with Switzerland to accompany Spain into the round of 16, from the group.
Chile finished 2nd to Brazil in a brilliant qualification campaign, including a win over Argentina, and their all out attack resulted in a flurry of 32 goals. However, Chile are vulnerable in defence.
In their 8th World Cup appearance Chile are managed by Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, who has blooded many youngsters into the senior team. Chile are likely to prove an effective hurdle for Switzerland in their quest for a place in the round of 16.
The last few years have been a boom period for Honduras since the time they featured at the Beijing Olympics. However, Honduras barely scraped through the qualifiers, with a narrow 1-0 win over El Salvador sealing their place in the finals.
Honduras are a disciplined team with an organized defence but lack a potent attack. Manager Reinaldo Rueda will look at counter-attack as a winning strategy.
Tottenham Hotspur's Wilson Palacios is a talented midfielder for Honduras and Chile will rely on Matias Fernandez to counter him.
37 year old Pavon was top scorer for Honduras in their qualifiers. He has 55 international goals and will be his teams spearhead. Veteran Pablo Contreras of Chile will be assigned the job of keeping Pavon in check.
Chile coach Marcelo Beilsa will rely on Fernandez in midfield with support from wingers Gonzalez and Millar. Carmona will fall back to lend support to the defenders from midfield.
The match between these two teams is likely to be a study in contrasts. Chile will hold possession for the most part and Honduras will depend on marking each opponent, and try and curb their fluency. Considering their recent showing, Chile have the definite edge.
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