“The game of our lives” ran a headline on one of 34 inside pages dedicated to coverage of the match. “Chile, bigger than the Maracanã,” proclaimed the El Mercurio newspaper over a photograph of Jorge Sampaoli’s players celebrating inside the famous ground in Rio de Janeiro.
“Pure Chile” crowed the headline in Las Últimas Noticias after Chile’s 2-0 defeat of Spain, their first victory over the old colonial power in 64 years of trying. Those opening two words of the national anthem were also given a rousing rendition by 30,000 red-shirted Chilean fans in the Maracanã before Wednesday’s match.
“I’m not surprised that we beat Spain today, because the last few times we played them we got the feeling our style of play ruffled them. That said, it was clear that to beat them we’d have to put in a perfect display, like we did today.
El equipo de Clave, compuesto por 23 personas de ambos sexos, realiz labores de recepcin de visitantes (2.645 acreditados), traduccin consecutiva de las diferentes delegaciones extranjeras representando destinos de 37 pases diferentes, la coordinacin y atencin del workshop en el que participaron 46 turoperadores de 19 pases, la atencin de los stands de los 156 empresas expositoras y coexpositoras, la atencin de salas, etc.
Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, was photographed giving the thumbs up, a red and blue Chilean scarf around her neck. “I’m not even going to tell you how she celebrated the goals,” her spokesman Alvaro Elizalde said. “I’m 44 years old and I’ve never before seen Chile reach the second round of the World Cup after just two matches.”
Chilean twitter feeds were abuzz with jokes and memes at the expense of the Spaniards. One showed a photograph of Vidal, with his Mohican haircut and tattoos, kitted out as the Spanish king with a uniform and sash.