The Shocking Downfall of Chile's National Team

[@ratonroman]

better work than most chilean journalist.

[@PedroVergaraDuarte]

thats true, ratón roman

[@_vmks_]

not really a high bar lmao, our journalists suck balls

[@ricardslatvia]

Babe wake up, new HITC Sevens documentary on the downfall of a national team just dropped 🗣️

[@ezraezra2928]

And we all know that he dropped this video shortly after Chile got trashed by Colombia.

[@brendanamusmaximus7560]

Don't call me babe

[@RespecTheLevYT]

Let’s get EDUCATED 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@windofhorus666]

this is such a great comment *doths cap*

[@brianrodriguez6897]

​@@brendanamusmaximus7560 babe

[@QuadsAPaloma]

Being Chilean I knew this video was coming for at least 5 years lol

[@zuhayershadmankhan9870]

Could you please explain why Chile felt the need to call up a mid ass English striker? Was the situation THIS dire?

[@MrBobo2709]

we all knew that we would drop back in to the wilderness after our golden generation… but man is this hard to watch. and it will continue for the next 10-15 years at least

[@valoarreguin4126]

Us Mexicans will soon join you guys 😭😭😭

[@germanmaturanaolave1749]

Mi papa me decía, aprovecha de disfrutar qué en un par de años volveremos al nivel del 2001

[@MrBobo2709]

@@germanmaturanaolave1749 he was spot on

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

Chile losing to Bolivia at home is peak rivalry type of stuff. 💀💀💀

[@ezraezra2928]

Now they got battered against Colombia (0-4).

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@ezraezra2928 The Sea Level Merchants are back!!!

[@ChichKrav]

A new low 😂

[@ottomanosman2463]

Kid, after getting bored with Professor James Ker-Lindsay, you have found time again to make bombastic sentiments for your Smash Bros. advertisement?

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

@@ottomanosman2463 You are a kid mate. You definitely need some help dawg. ☠️🤡

[@Chris-55]

Chile in 2017: Casually destroying Ronaldo's Portugal, Messi's Argentina, Brazil, and Reaching the final of the confederations cup against WC champions Chile in 2024: Can't beat Bolivia in home soil

[@charlesdansereau-menard3347]

If you think Chile destroyed Brazil in 2017, I challenge you to tell me the score of the only match they played against each other that year. Hint : Chile got destroyed, as usual. However, in 2015, Chile did win against Brazil for the first time since 2000.

[@gabrielhdez41]

As a Chilean this one will be a fun watch in a sad way 😭

[@martinpanqueque]

Chile culiao no mete niun gol.

[@Metalerolero]

Chilean here, as always, your research is impeccable and very impressive. Spot on Alfie!

[@ezraezra2928]

Dropping this video right after Chile's recent humiliation vs Colombia (0-4 loss) is so wild. Let's not forget that a loss at home to Bolivia was the "nail in the coffin" for the downfall.

[@ninjalectualx]

TBF no matter when it's dropped it will be after a big Chile loss

[@gerryskeloor2865]

Fernando Felicevich and his influence as a super-agent has been a disaster for Chilean football as a whole.

[@pablodrogo]

Mentioning the agents and not going deeper into Felicevich seems neglectful. If the privatization was the beginning of the end, then Felicevich is the undertaker of Chilean football

[@ZSznwk0w]

el nefastó de milad

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

That Chile team, with Gary Medel playing basically playing as a Libero, was one of the main teams that got me really into tactics. It was so refreshing seeing them play this crazy brand of football in an unfamiliar formation, especially at a time when everyone else was obsessed with playing 4-3-3 every game

[@Lorenzini19]

Nice to see people with football knowledge talking facts. I’m also a tactics nerd myself and I felt represented with your comment

[@duffman18]

​​@@Lorenzini19 I think tactics nerds like us should be called Pyramidheads, cos of the book, and the fact that "Pyramid Head" is already a very well known character and name.

[@NuevoCampeonsub-]

I'm proud that Chile is the unique "Centenario Cup" champion I'm proud that Chile is the only national team from the Americas who beat Mexico by 7-0 ( The reason why Chile didn't want to score the eight goal once the score was already 7-0 is because Chile respects the "Chavo del 8". "El Chavo del 8" is Mexican and his number is 8. I'm proud that Chile is the only national team from the Americas who prevented Argentina from winning a COPA AMERICA championship in two consecutive occasions. Both Gary Medel and Claudio Bravo were a nightmare for Messi.

[@noyes4968]

​@@NuevoCampeonsub- Chile DID score the 8th, it was disallowed tho

[@NuevoCampeonsub-]

@@noyes4968 But note that happened when the score wasn't 7-0 yet. So, the respect towards "El Chavo del 8" still stands

[@Radamanthys4616]

just after the 0-4 defeat against Colombia, perfect timing!

[@rafael_lana]

That was expected Colombia is playing very well these days. The loss to Brazil was shocking, and I'm brazilian 😂

[@Blizzardfire]

@@rafael_lana Imagine waking up from an 8 year coma and reading this 🤣

[@agentg11]

4 nil is diabolical

[@blackinton2526]

@@rafael_lana Colombia lose 1-0 vs Bolivia and Bolivia had 10 men since the 20th minute of the game

[@juansebastianraadmeza9405]

@@blackinton2526yeah but the conditions of Bolivia’s stadium during that game were just really hard to counter despite Colombia having one more player. Bolivia was playing at one of the highest stadiums in the world, where there is very little oxygen. Colombia (and really no other team in the world) is prepared for such conditions since they are not only hard to play in, but it can also risk a player’s lives. Meanwhile Bolivians have played football at those heights since they were born, so they are naturally used to those conditions

[@luisdonoso1913]

As a Chilean, I can say that the research to make this video is impeccable. Sadly, the current bad moment of the national team also has other ingredients, such as a toxic atmosphere within the squad. Arturo Vidal began to publicly bash Gareca when he didn't select him. He also claims that things can be salvaged if what remains of the golden generation is selected again (starting with himself, of course). Many younger players in the squad idolize Vidal, so his comments towars Gareca aren't harmless to the overall atmoshpere at all. It doesn't matter if Chile appoints Ancelotti or Guardiola. Any serious coach wouldn't select Vidal anymore due to his age and attittude. But of course, this would also mean that he would continue throwing sh-t from outside, and this has the potential to ruin the job of any future coach. He still thinks that he is 25 years old and that Barcelona and Real Madrid are fighting for signing him. A story that wasn't mentioned in the video was that during the 2015 Copa América, Vidal crashed and totally f-cked his Ferrari. In fact, when police arrived at the crash scene, Vidal told them "if you arrest me you will screw Chile up!", so they let him go Rumors say that Sampaoli was ready to expel him from the squad, but that the Chilean president herself intervened to keep him. From that moment on, many of the golden generation players began to think that they could do whatever they wanted without consequences. This created a sensation of arrogance and impunity, so the downfall of the golden generation was also exacerbated by their own actions. Also, Sergio Jadue is quite a character in his own way. When he was at the airport leaving for the USA for his trial, he told journalists that he was leaving to have "vacations with his family". In fact, Amazon Prime created a series with Jadue as its main protagonist that shows him as a highly corrupt individual and as a clown. While the series might not be 100% accurate in terms of reflecting facts, it portrays Jadue quite well. Overall, great video Alfie!

[@Nico-ud3ri]

You sound insanely ungrateful. We wouldn’t have won any of the Copa Americas without Arturo Vidal. He has always been instrumental to Chilean success. “Toxic atmosphere?” Okay! That can be resolved through talks. The priority is playing good football. The priority is doing whatever we can to start winning games. The priority is to qualify to the World Cup. Everything else is secondary. Right now, no player in the Chilean squad is better than Arturo Vidal, much less the current midfielders. Even at his age.

[@luisdonoso1913]

@@Nico-ud3ri Dude, a toxic atmosphere requires much more than just "talks". Sometimes you need to remove the elements that cause that toxicity in the first place. Remember when Bielsa banned Vidal from the squad at some moment? Despite not having Vidal for part of the qualifiers, we still qualified comfortably for the 2010 World Cup Don't forget that Vidal only plays at Colo-Colo. He is not at Bayern or Juventus anymore. We both know that the level of the Chilean tournament is pathetic. His arrogance is what makes him claim that he can fix the current situation, not his current performances. Our successes were already 8 years ago, when the players were at the peak of their careers. I am really grateful for that, but we can't live from the past forever. Otherwise, let's try to consider Zamorano and Salas for the national team too Vidal doesn't really care about the national team, he only cares about himself. If he would care about the national team, he would support the team from outside rather than criticizing publicly, especially in these difficult moments. And if he has some constructive criticism to make (of which there is none really, other than just "pick me pick me pick me"), I'm sure he could find a way to reach Gareca privately for that

[@Nico-ud3ri]

@@luisdonoso1913 you made some good points. But I do think he cares about the national team a lot, you can see it in his reactions when watching the games. Another value he would bring is strong leadership too, since right now on the pitch, it’s something that very much missing. I definitely don’t think he’s nearly as good of a player as he used to be, but the team needs everything it can get at this point. I agree that he could’ve gone about communicating his issues with Gareca better.

[@Niko-fj4mo]

And Vidal returned and we draw 0-0 against Peru! Viva Chile :)

[@Nico-ud3ri]

@@Niko-fj4mo yes but we looked better. Adding Vidal to the squad was never gonna weaken the team. We’ll see what happens today 🫡

[@MrRonald2796]

Chile is now going through the same downfall Paraguay's NT went through after the 2010 World Cup, it took us 14 years to have a competitive team once again that actually looks capable of qualifying to a World Cup.

[@Chris-55]

Paraguay's downfal, is even worse tbh, because even now the Paraguayan team is still pretty bad, specially when they were historically good

[@oliverbritez4]

⁠@@Chris-55idk what you’re talking about. They’re unbeaten in the last 4 games now even beating Brazil and in qualifying position for the WC. Their new coach completely turned the team around and Paraguay is going into a new golden age with a lot of new talent now. They’re a brick wall in defense again too

[@Chris-55]

@@oliverbritez4 Yeah they just shut my mouth ngl, they got back up from the dead

[@oliverbritez4]

@@Chris-55 lmao respect for coming back. 6 games undefeated

[@Darwinek]

Paraguay is doing better now. Still, I would love to see them score more than one goal in a game more often.

[@grindcorito]

We are the worst country in Chile bro😢

[@ChichKrav]

Haha entendiiii

[@porlarazonoporlafuerza6424]

Como podemos ser peor que Chile :(

[@Paddy-ip7qk]

Got it 😂😂😂

[@emilianoabarca]

@@porlarazonoporlafuerza6424 porque somos el peor pais de chile, hermano

[@DarkHorseF.C6686]

Still remember Chile's run to the final four of U-20 World Cup in '07. That team was poised to succeed and they did with back-to-back Copa America titles. How times have changed

[@Lorenzini19]

man of culture

[@ezraezra2928]

If you don't know, there was a big controversy regarding how Chile bottled that U-20 World Cup triumph. Some Chilean fans believed that it was totally rigged for Argentina to win that tournament, while some Chilean players had even clashed with local police in Canada. You can find a detailed information about this scandal on Wikipedia page about 2007 U-20 World Cup. Scroll down to the point where it says "Chilean clash with police" or something similar.

[@DarkHorseF.C6686]

@@ezraezra2928 yeah I remember there was some clashing with cops here (I live in Canada) but forgot the full details. I remember the game vs Argentina was bad-tempered. The referee got in over his head, he allowed to much dirty stuff by the Argentines and Chile started loosing their cool. If recall rightly, the Chileans had two players dismissed.

[@emilianoabarca]

And that was the foundations of the team that Marcelo Bielsa took after a few years in the wilderness, and yeah the rest is history

[@eddixon2015]

From winning back to back Copa America’s to missing the World Cup in two years was a nearly biblical terrible downfall.

[@Vichikuma]

It's not that uncommon if you're in Conmebol and you aren't Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay.

[@ChichKrav]

God is definitely punishing us 😂

[@marukoamv2424]

And now even with slot extension, Chile most likely missed the third in a row

[@NicoRecart]

Amazing video as always Alfie. As a chilean, I'm very surprised of your complete and deep analysis. This also saddens me, because I can't remember seeing any article or documentary of this level coming from the chilean media. What you mention about football being ran by people who doesn't care about it is very true, and this also trascends to the media, who many think have been complicit all these years, not wanting to open the discussion about the deep problems we have. I feel like people who are in positions of leadership in my country don't really care about doing their job, and this applies especially for politics too. Our two legislative chambers, of deputies and senators, are full of populists and wolves disguised as sheep, promising stuff that they never do and also, much like the media, switching the narratives to whatever suits them, deceiveng chileans. We had an opportunity to change all of this tho, just 5 years ago we had a massive social unrest and protests that lead up to TWO processes of writing a new Constitution, TWO of them, and we failed at both because the people we chose to write them also ended up deceiveng us. You could chose the easy road and blame the population for choosing bad representatives, but I think that it's not democracy's fault, it may be that being the most developed country in Latin America makes anyone and everyone switch on the people when they end up having power in their hands, because when you reach those positions you end up having all the tools to cheat and no one will care because we'll keep being fine.

[@retwerts]

The biggest reason why Chilli is the most developed country in South America is because your politicians do the least! People still don’t get it - the more government gets involved, the worst everything gets. Just vote for the people who promised least and you would be fine!

[@carnifex2005]

Here's an idea for a video. Best Golden Generations of all-time. I'd say Chile is up there in how mediocre they were before and after the Golden Generation came and went.

[@jdmresearch]

Mmm, I’m not so sure they were so mediocre. 1998, 2010, they qualified, great players… at least compared to other South American teams (except of course the big three) they’ve always done reasonably well.

[@cheloxmv]

I'll say the Chile of old underperformed compared to the other Conmebol teams not being the big three.

[@Chris-55]

Chile has been pretty good historically though, for example in the 60's where they got 3rd in the World Cup

[@mkinglbcs1302]

The answer to Chile’s malaise is clearly to create a new state owned club to compete with Colo Colo. I suggest Kolo Kolo, managed and captained by the man the myth the legend Kolo Toure

[@tayxicfox9512]

Petition to have Kolo Muani as a shareholder

[@giodhuha6771]

@@mkinglbcs1302 Might as well have Kolo Terorita as their striker.

[@thabanakabo4370]

Beautiful human being Kolo Toure

[@andresdelacuadra7349]

in the last 10 leagues colo colo won just 2, universidad catolica won 6

[@freedomgundam95]

That would be sick though i'd stick to the legendary Colo - Colo

[@Iusedtohaveasillyhandle]

Crazy that I had this exact same question checking the Conmebol standings this morning and now this dropped. Alfie doesn’t miss

[@Badguy10472]

Hello from the States. Thank You for making this video. Chile was an interesting case study for me. Uruguay also looks like they are imploding losing to peru and landing a draw with Ecuador at home.

[@ezraezra2928]

All of this because of Luis Suarez' retirement. Not to mention, he's looking to "curse" the whole team.

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@ezraezra2928 I think it's just the players rebelling against Marcelo Bielsa to get him sacked

[@anonimonn9775]

This is probably what we in Argentina call "hacer la cama" (make the bed). When a coach playing style or his methods clashes with the ones players are used to, or he wants to make significant changes, sometimes they will play poorly as a scheme to have the coach fired. Many people in Argentina think that Uruguay's players are "making the bed" for Bielsa. "A Bielsa le están haciendo la cama"

[@yretgggjj9427]

we aren't getting results, but nothing more than that really. yesterday we could've scored 4 from clear chances. add bielsa's antics making him 'lose the dressing room' and having half of the starting XI banned and you don't get points.

[@yretgggjj9427]

@@anonimonn9775 and this is why you should hear people who actually watch the games. think, we wouldn't have alonso for the 2022 wc if the team did that, they would've realized that alonso is a shit manager and that maybe we wouldn't get out of group stage with him, then make him 'the bed'.

[@jesuisunstroopwafel]

I remember being hyped by Claudio Bravo moving to Barcelona. I feel old.

[@Darwinek]

You are old :)

[@diegopons4622]

I remember that the best player from that Golden Generation was supposed to be Matias Fernandez. Although he played the '05 u-20 WC and not the '07 like the others. But his career never took off. Instead, Vidal and Sanchez went on to lead Chilean football for the next 10 years and achieved great things.

[@felipepereira2674]

Matías Fernández sadly suffered an injury that he never fully recovered from. That lead him to suffer from depression and after that, he "found Jesus" and now he is a pastor. He is retired already.

[@andrewperez1999]

Chile and Peru hold each other up. When one is bad the other is also. They’ll both be back to their best within 5 years

[@cooperagent4753]

That's not true. In the 2010 WC qualification, Peru ended 10th and Chile 2nd. Right now it's just a coincidence that the two NT are holding the last positions.

[@Alphaa-vd3ww]

Great video. Greetings from pudahuel, minnesota.

[@xtrsboi]

somos tan malos ahora que hasta los gringos nos hacen documentales .

[@nachoalvarez7171]

Es un británico, pero es verdad de igual manera

[@esedelachaqueta3456]

​@@nachoalvarez7171nah, los británicos saben mucho más de futbol que los gringos

[@davidquevedo1652]

Thank you for speaking about this. As you mentioned, Chilean football, and sports in general, have been neglected to the extreme. Football in Chile is massive-it runs in the blood of most families here, often leading to social issues and other problems. If there were proper sports management, not just in football but across the board, Chile would have a much brighter future ahead. Unfortunately, those at the top are too greedy to invest in developing young talent and changing the state of Chilean football overall. The golden generation helped us forget these problems, but it was only a matter of time. Hopefully, with this being one of the lowest points, change can happen... one can only dream.

[@manueleduardosanromanpardo8098]

Great video alfie, however there's some more things that also have contributed to the downfall of the chilean national team and also chilean clubs internationally for example: The whole sampaoli saga; an dubious contract extension and a outrageous plea to terminate his contract claiming he's "feeling like a prisoner" in chile The influence of football agents/agencies in clubs; there's proof that agents are involved in football clubs and are influencing in day by day decisions The disaster that was francis cagigao 's stint as head of football operations; includes a heated row with a journalist in a live radio show (btw you can see the whole show on KZbin if you search francis cagigao radio adn, but for your information it's in Spanish) Finally the whole 2021 copa america scandal which involves breaching covid rules, players bringing women to the team's hotel, the team's head coach resigning on the spot and later being talked down in order to continue as head coach and the federation trying to cover up the story claiming that an hairdresser entered into the hotel and nothing else.

[@manuelriveros2911]

Dear Alfie, as an Argentine, I feel obliged to challenge your bit on Milei trying to fix what's not broken. So here's my two cents regarding Argentina's football situation. While Argentina has achieved remarkable success with one World Cup, two Copas Américas, and the Finalissima, these triumphs have occurred despite, not because of, the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The organisation requires fundamental restructuring, much like other football governing bodies, starting with FIFA. AFA's troubling history includes: - the era of Julio Grondona, whose administration was marked by allegations of match-fixing through referee selection - the current presidency of Claudio Tapia, whose election emerged from a bizarre 38-38 vote split in a 75-member commission - financial mismanagement so severe that Messi personally intervened to pay employees' overdue salaries - arbitrary manipulation of league formats, including suspension of relegation, arbitrary promotion of second-division teams, and constant changes to competition structures - negligent oversight allowing clubs to be controlled by controversial union leaders and questionable business figures, substandard pitch conditions, silence during major child abuse scandals involving prominent clubs. The current crisis involves a legal dispute between AFA President Tapia and Andrés Fassi, Talleres' president and opposition figure. After allegations that Fassi threatened a referee with a gun, AFA imposed a two-year suspension on him, conspicuously timed just before a committee meeting that would have confirmed Tapia's unopposed re-election. The General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) has since suspended this meeting following Fassi's legal challenge. Milei's proposal to introduce Sociedades Anónimas Deportivas (SADs) - equivalent to UK's public limited companies in sports - comes amid this backdrop. While the merit of this solution remains debatable, it addresses the decline of Argentine football from its glory days. The league that produced the internationally dominant Boca Juniors of the early 2000s, which defeated European giants Real Madrid and Milan, now struggles to compete with Brazil's Brasileirão. The league's deterioration, accelerated post-Bosman ruling, has transformed it into primarily a development system for young talents, who are frequently transferred to European clubs through "patria potestad" arrangements. Patria potestad is a concept in Civil law whose closest equivalent would be "parental rights and responsibilities" or "parental authority" in Common law, albeit with key differences. The remainder of the league typically consists of average and subpar mostly local players interspersed with aging international stars like De Rossi and Cavani. I've given you quite a bit on Argentina. Now I'd like to encourage you to cover any (or all) of these topics in the future. Thank you for your otherwise impeccable story as always.

[@juanjoseph]

Alfie is a leftist. Do not take his political takes seriously

[@Wingcake84]

Hitc doesn’t like milei because he’s a conservative so whatever he says to him is stupid i do enjoy the channel but if he can sneak it in he will complain about a nations politics.

[@juanjoseph]

@@manuelriveros2911 Alfie is a leftist. Take any political take from him with a rule of tumb

[@alexanderthorne635]

Milei is brilliant. We need more leaders like him😎👍

[@tizianocalderon4250]

Buena info con respecto al futbol argentino. VLLC!!!

[@albertmiller2electricbooga897]

Chile is totally one of those countries where rugby is gonna boom, they've already made a WC and the sport has a much cleaner image and offers a similar chance of Chilean national team success at the moment

[@Ahdhsuchhwu72]

Not really its mostly just played by the wealthy its just taken the place tennis had 20 years ago

[@ChichKrav]

It will get bigger but never surpass football

[@cheloxmv]

Chilean rugby needs to grow outside the capital and leave the elite neighborhoods to come closer to the masses.

[@hugominecraft4801]

rugby is a sport only practiced by the upper classes, and the chilean physique isn't made for rugby so its pretty unlikely

[@leonfoster5397]

Day 1 of Requesting Top 7 Best Footballer Hair Transplants

[@HonestTom1892]

This is what the people want.

[@BadselS]

This is goood

[@AzuraeLyonheart]

As long as he keeps to football. Lack of education on real world issues at the start of the last was not good. Anyone pro Palestine really needs to look at real history books and stay off the net.

[@BadselS]

@@AzuraeLyonheart what did he say on palestine?

[@leonfoster5397]

@@AzuraeLyonheart my suggestion would only related to hair transplants, so maybe people visiting Turkey? it would be unreasonable for him to just talk about football for this

[@Lucas-dg4zn]

Please do a video on the downfall of the Argentinian League. In the last 10 or so years it has gotten so much worse, it’s complete utter chaos

[@geniusfa7717]

He won't because it makes Tapia and friends look bad. see the owner of this channel sees AFA with the eyes of a liberal 1st world idiot. To him Tapia is the struggle of the brown man against the evil white colonialist bla bla bla I wonder if he knows or cares about Tapia ruling for 7 years without winning a single election ever.

[@Robi2009]

"Long and narrow as Peter Crouch" OMG, that's why I'm subscribed to this channel XD

[@mullenio4200]

Chile actually isn't that narrow. It's actually wider than the UK excluding Ireland.

[@Lgx-ie4if]

The uk is narrow

[@davidherrera3333]

As usual right on point, i'm chilean and a History teacher, my thesis was on privatization of football and this was the end result of the investigation, companies care about money, in this case, player development and serious infrastructure investment have been put aside just to benefit agencies and betting houses, we need to take our football back

[@camofw4563]

As a long time fan of the channel and a chilean football fan, this was painful to watch lol. Great video, Alfie!

[@tobysceptiman7058]

After a few loses I stopped caring about chile team at all, I see there’s a match coming and I already know they’re losing

[@freedomgundam95]

@@tobysceptiman7058what about last night 😏

[@JuanBautista-rk8sg]

I cant even tell you how long I waited for this video. Im chilean and ive watched all your stuff the last 3 years or so. Great stuff mate! I hope we really do make a comeback. Crazy that we got 2 wins over England at Wembley im our head 2 heads.

[@Wladislav]

Definitely the worst team in CONMEBOL right now. Time to find out if it's simply a case of a golden generation ending and a new one having yet to rise up, or if there is something else going on.

[@Badguy10472]

Please continue this series. I have enjoyed your videos on the downfall mexico and brazil. Was their a case study video done on Italy?

[@Veaseify]

Why would Italy need a case study? They won the Euros in 2020 and are currently ranked 10th in the world, that is entirely decent.

[@Wingcake84]

@@Veaseifyoh I don’t know missing back to back world cups and not having any players be considered a top 10 player I remember before qualifiers would start the conversation was is Italy poised to make the final it wasn’t will they even qualify

[@porlarazonoporlafuerza6424]

​@@VeaseifyItaly has been poor for a long time

[@Veaseify]

@@porlarazonoporlafuerza6424 Define 'a long time' - they won the Euros 4 years ago and are currently in the top 10 rated nations in the world..

[@rafael_lana]

They just lost to my Brazil, who won despite the worst team anyone alive has ever seen from us in living memory. Thats how you know Chile is also going through a rough patch.

[@NaxoBax]

that goal at the last moment made so sad bro. Really tought that at least we could of gotten a tie.

[@rolandtb3]

A golden generation of coaches, players, overseers.

[@A_Baguette_]

Very well done. A very good overview of Chilean football.

[@daca_star4life599]

This has to be one of the biggest downfalls in modern Football.

[@Luka-ty4qr]

Wow if Venezuela is ahead of Chile in terms of international football then there's something wrong 💀

[@bababababababa6124]

I’m surprised Chile even has the necessary width to build a stadium considering they’re about 4 metres wide 💀

[@power279]

😂lol

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

Geographically broken ☠️

[@peoplelikefrank]

….like England.

[@germanmaturanaolave1749]

Yapo

[@rafael_lana]

They're surprisingly wide, it's just they're much taller in comparison and people think it's very narrow. You can just think of it as several Great Britains stacked, the width is very similar.

[@edgarjimenez9232]

The similarities between Mexico and Chile are uncanny

[@liluglymane5676]

That 0-7 Copa america defeat still haunts me

[@Vichikuma]

Chile and Mexico are lost brothers.

[@ChichKrav]

Welcome to the party wey/wey-on 😂

[@MC-xv2tn]

0:15 Alfie mate that was the round of 16! In the quarter finals we (Colombia) lost against Brazil 2-1. The Neymar injury game. Besides that brilliant video per usual.

[@enffootballlab2022]

James Rodriguez turns into a world class player for Colombia

[@patricio4961]

what does that overrated player have anything to do with the video?

[@paulc2317]

What has that to do with anything? That is a player that could never play at real madrid

[@T-Natrix]

Being half chilean, im just glad someone did a video on our teams downfall, least now I know all the reason to why our team has fallen to what it is today and im glad I was able to view our golden generation which will probably be a once in a life time occurrence, I wish Venezuela or Bolivia luck in the upcoming world cup and hope maybe one day things will change for the better but till then Im going back to celebrating goals not wins as we have done previously as at least Ill have something to cheer for annually if im lucky xD✌

[@OneFlyingTonk]

¡Chilean here! In terms of attendance, it isn't just Colo-Colo, which has been having a slow bleeding of fans since 2019, who fill up stadiums, but rather it is Universidad de Chile (and sometimes regional or "minor" clubs like Palestino) who have made 10,000; 20,000; 30,000 and even 40,000 public attendance figures, which you can check in which matches each year get the highest attendance. Outside of this, excelent video which tackles many issues that many here do not fully know of, one of these being the quality of players (which the press conviniently ignores to blame solely Gareca and bail out Felicevich and Milad) or the absolute state of some stadiums, the Monumental David Arellano being the most infamous of these. ¡Cheers and see you at the 5030 world cup!

[@cooperagent4753]

Nope, not true. Palestino only had a remarkable attendance for the Libertadores matches. About Colo-Colo, the team has always had a stable fan base -the biggest in the country-, no "slow bleeding" at all. The attendance this season has been affected by government restrictions because a group of so called "fans" (hooligans really) are constantly making a mess, and because circumstantially U de Chile is having a good season after sour years.

[@OneFlyingTonk]

@@cooperagent4753 It depends really. To just blatantly say "that's not true" is a bit misleading. While true that Colo-Colo's fanbase is stable, it is undeniable that the media coverage, which usually only flatters the CC, about the supposed "fan bleeding" is probably based on *something*; then again chilean press is absolutely in the gutter so I can take back that comment. On Universidad de Chile, the fact you can go on wikipedia or even data from the matches themselves and see that everytime they play in the Estadio Nacional the attendance usually is one of the highest in all season, even in the 2019-2022 period, which was hard for us I'll fully admit. Also, don't underestimate the other teams, at least they got more fans that Universidad Católica even outside the stadium.

[@cooperagent4753]

​@@OneFlyingTonk yeahh... wikipedia... not the most reliable source. And it is, in fact, not true what you said: Palestino is not even in the top five attendance in the league, Colo-Colo is not suffering from a "slow bleeding" of fans, and U does not historically dominate the attendance charts (this year they do, I give you that). But of course, only an U de Chile fan like yourself would come here complaining about not being mentioned in the top attendance, no other football fan in Chile does it, you guys do it because it's the only matter in which you may "sit and argue". But check transfermarkt for instance, there is no team dominating on the attendance matter in the last years, and some factors have affected: violence among the fans, condemnable government decisions that keep away people from the stadiums, etc. Even so, Colo-Colo has had the top spot for more years. Anyways, it's absolutely respectable the fact that your team indeed brings a lot of people to the stadium along with Colo-Colo, even when la U is way low in the overall fan base statistics and let's not talk about honours, trophies and records; given that you should have way less fans but you actually have a respectable amount. A second place is not bad at all. Just know your place in the chain.

[@OneFlyingTonk]

@@cooperagent4753 Bro more focused on "hierarchy" and living off old trophies than winning the current one. Of course there is no La Roja without the Albo and León combined but being dismissive instead of inquisitive is why rivalries in chilean football are so sour. In any case, it indeed is a serious issue the amount of hooligans in the "Big Three" teams and the absolute state of the ANFP doesn't allow for a proper counter-measure to that. On our end we do try to track all fans to ensure as few have actual criminal records but it's a half-assed measure that clearly isn't working. Not like banning away team fans in all matches also doesn't help... but if I speak, big trouble on that.

[@cooperagent4753]

@@OneFlyingTonk "old trophies"... literally you haven't won a trophy since 2017 while CC at least won in 2022. I'm just stating the fact that there is no discussión about the supremacy of CC in Chile in almost every single topic, furthermore one could arguably say there is only one big team in Chile (considering the poor performances of the said country internationally), but let's stay measured about it. Three big teams, alright, yes; but no other fans complain about the said hierarchy except you guys. Just deal with it.

[@CoolJoshido212]

Great timing for the upload

[@alvarorey9308]

The fact they lost to Bolivia at sea level says it all!

[@ChichKrav]

At home bro, even worse

[@mauricioandres7470]

13:48 not even close, Figueroa is Chile's best player of all time

[@jediknight5600]

What about Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano?

[@mauricioandres7470]

@@jediknight5600 Up there alongside Sanchez of course, but below Figueroa

[@lotussheep6717]

Figueroa, Samorano, Salas and Jorge Valdivia, Sanchez is the 5th

[@diegoverdugo5173]

@@lotussheep6717Valdivia mejor que Sánchez? Estás drogado jajajaj

[@l.r8206]

El Figueroa de Europa se llamaba Franz Beckenbauer...

[@fedetrex]

28:23 Colo Colo might be the club with the most fans but the team that most consistently fills out stadiums is Universidad de Chile, la U has the highest attendance average in the league by far.

[@cooperagent4753]

hahaha supporters of the small club "U" are always trying the same thing, to be noticed over Colo-Colo. Will never happen tho, no other football club in Chile matches CC superiority in any way. Así que déjate de wear chuncho mitómano, las autoridades han reducido aforos y estuvieron peleando el torneo, solo por eso y circunstancialmente por esta temporada han llevado más gente.

[@DrayNoR1]

Isn't neccesary to lie, dude.

[@freedomgundam95]

25 years took you all, to become champion, And during that time colo colo became three time champion, super champion. The Libertadores you won't have, And never will, Because that cup already belongs to your daaaad, And no-one else.

[@ItaliavsChile]

I agree with most of it as the Chilean league needs a massive overhaul. I would love to see your expanded review upon bielda experience in Chile , I saw the process in detail and what he had to say about the state of the Chilean teams and presidents of the clubs was bucket of fish and sh… .

[@gregorkalinkat7657]

My favourite football channel. Keep up the great work 🙌

[@brunoactis1104]

It's funny how, despite being much bigger than Chile until fairly recently, you never made a video about Paraguay's downfall after the 2010 WC. Paraguay is so invisible despite being so important in south american football, we even have one of the greatest clubs ever outside of Europe. I guess i'm just glad we seem to be back now. Edit: To be fair i guess, we didn't have a downfall as much as we just had bad luck. Our infraestructure is not that bad, and we seem to be entering a sorta golden generation of youth prospects prosuction. We just won the u15 Copa America and the u23 Pre olympic tournament.

[@alwayselite748]

Europeans only care about Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and whoever won the Copa America. they don’t know nothing about the rich history of countries like Paraguay and Perú🙌

[@nostopraul]

awesome video mate love that u extended the analysis beyond just football and talked about social and structural issues here

[@mariocorbalang.4537]

Alfie, just as an anecdote, Jordy Thompson's ex girlfriend CAMILA joined him a couple of months ago in Russia, and now they are living together. Talk about toxic relationships!

[@Diao7]

12:52 that's not the problem. Bielsa forced athleticism in his teams by training them in high intensity. He would simulate games through his training using his murderball session as an example. Sampaoli is a known copycat of Bielsa and he would do the same. He made players go through "no air " training to whip them into shape. If you look at how Erick Pulgar performed in flamingo when sampaoli was the manager in comparison to his performances in the chilean national team. You will see that the athleticism was something those managers forced into their squads. If Gareca can't do it, it's because he doesn't have that capability. He expects his players to already have that covered like most Argentinian managers.

[@pbarra81]

Hi. I’m chilean and i’ve been a follower of your channel for… a year and a half i think. I think it’s both an honor and a humiliation at once that our national team made it to your video essays. An honor because i think your videos are very well crafted and informed. This video is an example, it’s a very good summary of all that has happened in our football in the last 20 years. I’ve been saying it’s not Gareca’s fault, it’s the current generation of players and the lack of investment in young categories. I didn’t make the link all the way to the top though, i’m glad you did. That’s also the reason why the tickets to see the national team are so high, like they are still the defending Copa América champions. And what you said towards the end it’s already happening, i am an example: i stopped watching the chilean league in 2013. I watched both european and the chilean leagues for decades, until one day i couldn’t watch anymore the national teams after watching Barcelona or Real Madrid. I know young kids that know all about Arsenal, ManCity (thanks in great part to the Fifa/FC games), but don’t watch the chilean league at all, because of some of the reasons you mentioned. Thanks for another great video, i loved it despite being about the involution of Chile. I hadn’t seen something like this since the disastrous qualifier for Korea Japan 2002, a team whose starting 11 nobody could mention.

[@seandelap8587]

There's currently 5 teams in with a shout of winning the league of Ireland title with only a few games remaining Shelbourne' Derry City' Shamrock Rovers' Galway United and St Patrick's Athletic how often has this been the case in other football leagues around the world that there's beem multiple clubs challenging for the title at the same time and if so could you do a video on it

[@ifan_1234]

it's the same in the Welsh prem this season. because tns are focused on their European games, it has opened the door for other teams to win the league, it's looking really competitive for the first time in years

[@jesterbeats2898]

Omg Galway United that is the team i managed in football manager even though i didn't win the league with them we were always competitive against the likes of shamrock and shelbourne

[@gregorkalinkat7657]

Leon Pöhls (German GK at Shamrock) just was a guest in one of the big football podcasts here in Germany. Would love a video about the Irish league

[@400Awesomo]

Do a video about "what's going on with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors?"

[@Gigithesecondx]

Missed the part where Chile tried to eliminate youth levels at clubs in the first division, sad to see the downfall of my country

[@Celery999]

Need a “what on earth is going on at Aberdeen” video. From being relegation threatened midway through last season to being joint-top of the Scottish Premiership having won 13 games in a row and being unbeaten in nearly 20.

[@kwanlinus6999]

Wait until this Saturday and then we'll talk. No chance Aberdeen isn't getting battered by Celtic at home.

[@Dushan-o8w]

What on earth is going on with Albania

[@Celery999]

@@kwanlinus6999 I’d say we can talk now.

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@Celery999 goal difference means the Celtic dynasty remains in place

[@Celery999]

@@kwanlinus6999 Not saying it doesn’t but you said “no chance that Aberdeen aren’t getting battered”, they didn’t get battered.

[@luishernandezblonde]

Chile stopped working. There was a time they worked for a new group of players. Now they have failed to improve.

[@FrankQuijada]

Chilean here. Superb work! You just made a radiography of our poor Futbol filled with corruption and the cancer of privatization. Sadly, this country is ruled by the sharks, and even for the president it's hard to fight against them. Our sad reality in futbol is just a mirror of our sad reality in general. cheers, and again, congratulations.

[@chileanfootballnews]

Good timing for the release of this video. There are key debating points missing but all in all, a good timeline run of what's going on in the Chilean game. The clear state of affairs is dismal and there is a lot to this than meets the eye considering you're not based in Chile, it's a fairly accurate picture. As the saying goes, once you hit rock bottom, there's nothing more. When are things going to improve? Not anytime soon at the rate things are going.

[@michaelosgood9876]

Glad you done this video as I wondered about Chile myself, having picked them as a strong contender for 2018 World Cup. As it turned out, as we all know, they couldnt even qualify!

[@alday5126]

Great summary of the situation, I enjoyed it, thanks a lot

[@saga-rebelion]

Not super related to this, but a "We need to talk about Marcelo Bielsa" video from Alfie would be fun to watch.

[@TRossMiddie11]

Great video, as always...but pronouncing "Honduras" as "Hond-your-ass" is crazy.

[@pratosaurusrex1128]

Always love these kind of videos, Alfie. Doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative like this one. Have you done a video of the most overachieving teams or the most underachieving teams? It would be interesting to hear your take on what those terms mean and what teams fit into those categories.

[@falloutrains2641]

Chilean history on soccer be like: • Its over • we're so back • it's over

[@opnmindd]

This one hurts a lot 😭

[@optimus6945]

The world cup game against Brazil was in the round of 16.

[@felipeh6012]

THANK YOU. I wrote my thesis (law) on the effects of the privatisation in chilean football, it was so sickening to see, even as a liberal, how the identity and heart of chilean football was ripped out because of that process which only saw short-term success in mind and a lot of griddiness by the chilean aristocracy. I really do believe we need to go back with some reforms; but damn, chilean football has become so corrupt and so smart with it that FIFA not the government will do anything to change something soon The current law is so bad that it even stopped the growth of Rugby and Basketball in the country, as it limited all professional sports clubs to that form of organisation, which only worked for football as it was already established in the country. I'm pretty bitter about the current system in Chile as it caused the disappearance of my hometown club (Deportes Ovalle) just a decade after we reached the Copa Chile finals, and it also has destroyed development in chilean football. Only 1 club gets promoted in the 3rd Tier and 2 on the 2nd tier. Chilean football is a disgrace.

[@mateorios1636]

When HITC does a video, you are doomed

[@favsandiman]

It is more reality than downfall, we were just spoilt for a good 5 years.

[@liluglymane5676]

You guys won Copa america and defeated Messi's Argentina countless times

[@cheloxmv]

Nah, Chile always fought for the 4th or 5th place. Chile is in their worst period in history.

[@paddyw65]

as an irish man i’m just having flashbacks to where it all went wrong for us

[@alwayselite748]

for those wondering how they lost to a bad team like Bolivia at home, Chile is losing their games on purpose because they don’t like their coach. they’re making a king size bed for Gareca. Arturo Vidal has expressed his dislike for him multiple times and hinted that the rest of the team feels that way. It shows on the pitch in the games against Colombia and Bolivia that they’re trying to lose. One of their players refused to play against Colombia and went to Vidal’s house to watch the game with him on kick.

[@andreichiriac7823]

Diverging opiinion: Elias Figeuroa is the greatest Chilean player of all time ;) Quality video as always - thank you Alfie

[@MarckeloNeruda]

This is excellent. Amazing research. Much much better than anything the Chilean press has ever produced

[@NicolasAlveal]

20:20 The worst thing about Thompson is that they’re STILL together in Russia 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@agusganji]

You should take a look at Argentina's local league before claiming the national team owes any of its merits to it. We have the most horrible league in the world, the top flight has 28 teams and its only made this way to prevent the big clubs to get relegated again. It's a horrible system and the fact that most of the players playing in the national team do so while playing abroad (and also stop getting called up when they go back to play in Argentina) should give you a clue.

[@zosiazaremba7479]

28 teams in the top flight? That means 56 matchdays. There aren't even that many weeks in a year

[@maciejbala477]

sure, but you still produce stars there and the best players from there get sold for big money and have good careers. I really don't think that's "most horrible in the world". Might be bad, but clearly still works to an extent

[@rafael_lana]

Was it because of River managing to get relegated back in the day?

[@maxisosaperez1570]

La liga es horrible pero quitando a Messi el resto de los jugadores se formó acá, a eso es a lo que va. Los jugadores argentinos juegan en el extranjero porque el dinero está allá, es simple y desde la ley Bosman es así. Chiqui Tapia es un mafioso al que hay que sacar pero privatizar el fútbol va a ser una condena, vamos a terminar siendo un México o un Chile más porque acá los empresarios son igual de corruptos en general, si ya es alevosa la corrupción teniendo socios a los cuales rendir cuentas imagínate cuando no tengan que hacerlo con nadie.

[@joshholland7985]

As long and narrow as peter crouch 😂 Alfie spot on with the one liners once again. Welsh premier next please 🙏

[@HonestTom1892]

I’d struggle to name 3 current Chile players 💀

[@seedricc]

same. I don’t know anyone else other than Alexis Sanchez

[@ZebSam36]

Marcelino Nunez, what a player

[@vladimirognyanov6874]

​@@seedriccEduardo Vargas is still playing

[@insertnamehere5809]

Ben Brereton Diaz 😂

[@matthewhernandez8342]

Arturo Vidal retired?

[@cawallac123]

If you’re Chilean you saw this coming. I spent a fortune going to the Brazil WC knowing that Chile may go eons without qualifying again. I also went to the 7-0 Mexican game spending another arm and leg. Money well spent considering I’ll never see Chile lift another trophy again. I don’t see a way out… it’s gonna be dark ages for a long time 😢

[@marksman209]

Thank you for speaking about this man being Chilean no one is covering this teams downfall and it’s annoying

[@Brandon-qd2lb]

Ghana needs a video too!

[@ekkolima]

Ghana has been falling off bad. At least Nigeria woke up from their slump. But Jolloff Derby is looking kind of soft this go round, 🤔..

[@dps1618]

make a video for the amazing journey of olympiacos from their worst season ever to lifting the europa conference league after the mentilibar signing in February!!!

[@AD744]

Please do one for Ghana!

[@HvrrisonJack]

Never stop making videos Alfie

[@suasanakota6219]

Remembering Chile is remembering their big reebok logo in their jersey era,

[@Kantcino]

What a great video! greetings from Shang Ti a Woo, China

[@滋榎本]

Less than a decade ago, Chile were kings of South American international football. La Roja won back-to-back Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016, beating Lionel Messi and Argentina in the final both times. They boasted stars like Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal and were a force to be reckoned with. It was a golden generation. However, the memory of this all-conquering Chilean national team has faded fast. On 10 October 2017, after losing 3-0 to Brazil, Chile failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, causing an end to what was perceived as their "golden generation". Far from being South American kings, La Roja are now CONMEBOL also-rans.

[@ezraezra2928]

Well, let's not forget the Confederations Cup. They look so phenomenal, with Claudio Bravo saving 3 Portuguese penalties during the semifinal game. Sadly, they still lose to Germany in the Final, with the Germans only fielding a weakened side during that tournament.

[@MrAtzu]

This comment was written by ChatGPT.

[@joaquinugalde]

Thanks for the video Alfie. As a Chilean who cares about sports and football in my country, I appreciate it a lot. After saying that, I have some comments. - The ANFP is in extra critical financial condition after TNT Sports won an arbitration after the ANFP did not respect the contract conditions signed by both parties. Because of the "civil unrest" of late 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the ANFP decided to stop football for months in 2019 and 2020 (albeit, in 2020, it was mandated by the Minsitry of Health). In doing so, the minimum number of games to be broadcast was not achieved. Hence, now the ANFP has to pay around USD $32.000.000 to TNT Sports, plus interests (although the ANFP are doing some kind of counter-lawsuit, but it will fail). - In the current law that created the private football clubs, it is forbidden for football agents to be the owners of clubs. Obviously, that is not respected. Many teams have owners who are football agents, but they have some person as a facade as club President or CEO. Also, it is forbidden to own more than one team by one person, but again, that still happens. Argentinean agents Fernando Felicevich (Vibra Fútbol) and Christian Bragarnik (Score Fútbol) have a multitude of clubs in first and second division - Currently, Chile has 85 Argentinean players in the first and second divisions. Even though it is forbidden by the regulations of the ANFP to have more than 6 foreign players signed in a club, there are teams like Unión La Calera (owned by Bragarnik) with 10 Argentineans with a contract. It is not only that old foreign players are coming to the league, but also many unproven young players, or just foreign players that can not get a contract in another league. Agents are sometimes allocating their worst assets in the Chilean league, only to have their players with a contract somewhere. Hence, some local journalists are saying that the Chilean league it is the third division of the Argentinean league, because of the type of players that is getting into our football. - There is a lot of evidence that the malpractices of football agents are even getting into the national team. There are a lot of rumours that Felicevich' players (Vidal, Medel, Aránguiz) were actively recruiting newcomers of the national squad to quit their agents so they could join Vibra Fútbol. This even led to lawsuits against Felicevich of illegally offering players of other agents to clubs without the consent of the other agents. - The current president of the ANFP is Pablo Milad. He was appointed by President Sebastián Piñera as Intendent of the Maule Region. He made a mockery of himself for being a foundational member of the joint alliance to host the 2030 World Cup in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, only to be informed by news portals that the World Cup was not going to be hosted completely in South América, and that Chile was not going to host any game. He is being portrayed as the face of corruption in our football. Also, in his presidency, the financial problems of the ANFP became even worse than before. It has become so terrible, that the ANFP announced that the many of the under-age leagues, eliminating the u-13 and u-15 tournaments, and deleting any financial aid for the u-11 and u-12 tournaments. - Now, into the on-the-field problems, it is true that Gareca's squads tried to do high-pressing, high-intensity football against Albania, France and Paraguay. But since the Copa América the team has shown no ideas, no mechanization, and zero attacks. Chile has scored 2 goals since the start of the Copa América, and one of those goals (against Bolivia) happened because the GK injured one of his Achilles tendons when he tried to control a pass. Since I've watched football (I remember being in the stadium when I was 3, now I'm 35), I have never seen our national squad playing so poorly - It is not true that Alexis Sánchez is our best player ever. That distinction is still awarded to Elías Figueroa.

[@tigerrick]

Howling at "shower of shit" less than 2 minutes in. Great work.

[@Vichikuma]

I saw this coming before many, but I didn't think it would be this bad. The downfall began in that final against Germany, in the last Confederations Cup (2017). I saw the downfall coming in that very match: Sánchez and Vidal were fighting for scoring themselves, thinking about themselves and not the team. There were many occasions in that match where they could've passed and secured the goal, but instead they tried to score alone (we lost 0-1 in the end). I really felt I was foreshadowing the future by thinking what I was thinking. Then I told my family: "If we lose here the way we are playing it's over. We won't go to Russia". The downfall has gone beyond worse than I thought, though, for the reasons you explain here in an excellent manner. Still, I think if Chile had won that cup, history would be different.

[@asdfkisawa]

the true and real downfall began since Chile lost the Russia Confederation final match from the Marcelo Diaz awful defence mistake