NELSPRUIT // Chile are waiting for the results of a late fitness test on striker Humberto Suazo before finalising the starting line-up for their World Cup opener against Honduras today. "We still have one training session which will take place in a short while," Marcelo Bielsa, the Chile coach, told a news conference at the Mbombela Stadium where their opening Group H match will be played.
"I haven't yet decided on my starting line-up. Suazo has been coming along over the last few days and he's been training in the same way as his teammates. "Nevertheless, physically, he's still feeling the effect of the rest he's had to take ever since the Sunday on which he injured himself," he added. Suazo suffered a hamstring injury in Chile's 3-0 win over Israel on May 30 and has not played since. That match marked his comeback from a month-long lay off with a shoulder injury.
"He has been able to train over the past three days and he has been able to train fully, 100 per cent," Bielsa said. "Now, if you're asking me is he back in the same shape as he was before his injury, then he's not in the same shape. But if you're asking me if he's healthy, yes he is healthy in the sense that he can take on the same tasks as the other players." Opponents Honduras also have problems, with Julio De Leon, one of the team's key players, ruled out of the tournament yesterday with a right leg injury. Team officials say the hard-tackling Torino midfielder, who has 77 international caps, tore a muscle in his leg and will be replaced in the side against Chile by Jerry Palacios. Reinaldo Rueda, the Honduras manager, said David Suazo, the Genoa striker, who has a right thigh injury, would also be evaluated ahead of the game.
"The key is to make the right decision regarding whether he starts or not, thinking not only about the game with Chile but about the following games too," he added. Rueda will watch the match, Honduras's first World Cup game for 28 years from the stands after being sent from the touchline in the team's last qualifying game against El Salvador in October.
Rueda added: "Chile is a very compact national side that has performed very well and has a great team spirit," he said.
* Reuters