The unmissable friendly. So, yes, you shouldn’t miss this, even though it’s a friendly. Chile v Ghana, La Roja v The Black Stars. It’s on at 23:59 GMT on Wednesday and it’s being played in New Jersey, USA, of all places – a fantastic money-spinner, obviously. Here is the half-ramble, half-preview of it:
Teams often reflect the personality of their manager. And few teams in world football reflect the personality of their manager better than the current Chile national team. Their manager, Claudio Borghi, is a pure idealist, totally committed to playing pure, attacking, gung-ho football, a non-conformist in a managerial world of conformists. “I don’t like talking about players who are ‘versatile’,” he once said. “In my opinion, someone who’s versatile plays badly in every position.” His carefree stance goes hand in hand with his aura, the aura of the loveable uncle, who is perhaps slightly dodgy, but loveable because he doesn’t take life too seriously. With his companionable figure, you can imagine a handful of nieces and nephews jumping at him for a hug. Borghi looks just like your favourite uncle.
Claudio Borghi: Your favourite uncle
