South American Dispatch: Chile Put World Cup Plans Back On Track

Goal.com’s Tim Sturtridge reports on Chile’s swift justice for grumbling club, Fluminense’s faithful fans and Vagner Love getting yet another chance.

Nov 28, 2009 4:00:00 AM

Vagner Love - Palmeiras
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Vagner Love - Palmeiras
Any threat of Chile being expelled from next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa now seems to be over after Rangers of Talca agreed to drop their case against the Chilean FA.

Once Rangers took up their legal action against the association, FIFA were quick to let their unhappiness at events be know. Sepp Blatter and his cronies issued a warning to the footballing powers of Chile within days of Rangers heading towards the courts.

The message from the world’s governing body was emphatic: clear up your mess or we will put you out of the World Cup in South Africa. After all, FIFA’s policy on civil or government intervention in football matters is already well known in the region.

Just last year Peru found themselves put out of international competition for a month after their government stuck it’s oar into the domestic football association. On that occasion Peru faced the embarrassment of blanks being drawn in the Copa Libertadores, as it was uncertain that their clubs would be allowed to participate in the competition.

With this in mind the Chilean authorities took FIFA’s threat seriously and now have reached a conclusion which will see the national team turning up in South Africa next year.

“The Rangers case has been overcome,” Claudio Olmedo, a spokesman for the Chilean FA said. “It has been withdrawn from the Courts of Justice.”

The rumpus arose after Rangers were relegated to the Chilean second flight. Rangers contested their relegation, which was brought about by the Chilean FA docking them three points for fielding one foreigner too many.

The club entering a legal action against it’s FA brought the case to the attention of FIFA, and the world’s governing body let their feelings on the matter be know.

Now that Rangers have been persuaded to drop their case, FIFA seem pleased with the outcome and have invited Chile to take their place at next month’s World Cup draw in Cape Town.

Fluminense fans buy into mission impossible

Nobody can doubt the faith Fluminense fans have in their team right now as they rushed out to buy tickets for the second leg of their Copa Sudamericana final against Liga De Quito.

Despite going down 5-1 in the first match of the final earlier this week in Quito, the Fluminense faithful queued around the block to snap up over 39,000 tickets for Wednesday night’s return game at the Maracana.

Anyone wishing to see the conclusion of the Copa Sudamericana without a ticket must now shell out for the seated section of Rio’s famous old stadium.

With the fans of Fluminense demonstrating their support for the team by purchasing so many tickets so early, it should show their team that they still believe. Although they were undone in the altitude of Quito, Fluminense still have the quality to try and turn their huge deficit around. Having a player like Fred on the pitch means that the Rio outfit always carry the threat of goals.

Aside from the Copa Sudamericana final, Fluminense also have pressing matters in the Brazilian top flight as a recent good run has put them within touching distance of pulling away from the drop zone. Despite remaining two points from safety with only two games to play, belief among the fans is strong that they can pull away from the relegation places as the season winds down.

In terms of the Copa Sudamericana, Fluminense fans still have last year’s Copa Libertadores final fresh in their minds. That was contested between the same pair of clubs. On that occasion Fluminense pegged Liga De Quito back to 5-5 on aggregate before eventually losing 3-1 on penalties in the Maracana.  

Muricy Ramalho shares the Love with Vagner

Palmeiras manager Muricy Ramalho has promised to return Vagner Love to CSKA Moscow a better player after the striker’s loan spell with the club.

Since the Russian Premier League’s top scorer of 2008 has returned to his native Brazil on loan, he has found opportunities limited with Palmeiras. All that is set to change after the club from Rio sent another on loan striker, Obina, back after his on pitch fight with Mauricio during their visit to Gremio.

Vagner Love is set for a place in the starting line up for Palmeiras’ home game against Atletico Mineiro this weekend as Muricy Ramalho’s team look to stay in the hunt for the title.

Anything but a win in this weekend’s game will put an end to Palmeiras’s title aspirations for this season, and Vagner Love will be charged with the providing the goals to ensure they stay in the chase.

“I’ve kept on trying to improve Vagner and I will never give up on the player,” Muricy Ramalho said. “Of course he can still help us a great deal.”

Since his arrival back in Brazil, Vagner Love has been accused of being a disruptive influence within the Palmeiras camp, but beggars cannot be choosers so close to the end of the season.

“Picking Vagner is a technical matter, that’s for sure. We’ve lost players and so we have to take another look at him,” Muricy Ramalho added. “But Vagner is looking good right now and is working hard in training.”

Tim Sturtridge, Goal.com

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