Spanish coach selected wrong players against Chile, says Baichung

Aditi Tyagi

Chile stunned defending champions Spain 2-0 in their second match of FIFA World Cup 2014 and sent them crashing out of the tournament. In an exclusive chat with Aditi Tyagi of Zee Media, former Indian skipper Baichung Bhutia said that Spanish players failed to perform against the spirited Chile. Excerpts from the conversation: What was the major reason behind Spain`s loss against Chile? Each single individual in Spanish team failed to perform against the spirited Chile team. But I guess, their Coach Vincente del Bosque was at fault as well. The changes and combination he chose, was not right. Diego Costa , who is not fully fit, shouldn`t have started the game. Also, despite a pathetic show in the opening match against the Netherlands, skipper Iker Casillas was picked once again. Are you disappointed with Spain`s poor show in the first two matches? Yes. It`s quite a disappointing performance from the title holders. In two matches, they conceded seven goals. In the first half against Chile, they were all over the place. In the second half, they started off well, as Spain strikers created chances but failed to convert them into goals. What`s your take on Chile`s performance? Against Spain, Chile looked solid from the beginning. And we should give credit to them for that. They played exceptional football throughout the match. Chileans are playing with 3-4-3 formation, which is quite different. In fact, in this World Cup, no other team is playing with this combination. But it`s working well for Chile. With the help of this combination, their game has become more free-flowing. What are the chances for Chile in this World Cup? In the last two matches Chile performed exceptionally well. They are in such a difficult pool, where we have Netherlands and Spain. Even then, they performed well and have virtually sealed a place in the round of 16. Now I can see them as one of the dark horses of the tournament. Chilean fans who came in large numbers to support their team would be more than happy with the team`s performance.