Chile need to be more clinical to prove title credentials

The South American champions started off Group B with a win but need to be more decisive in front of goal to go all the way...

Chile proved why they are considered as early favourites to win this year's Confederations Cup when they prevailed in a hard-fought yet seemingly comfortable game against Cameroon to go top of Group B yesterday.

La Roja went with a rather lenient approach against the Lions on Sunday evening and was almost made to pay for it, before the heroics of their stars Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal saving the day for them. While everyone might be more interested in the interesting role of the brand new "Video Assistant Referee" who ruled out a goal from striker Eduardo Vargas in the latter stages of the first half, the real concern for Juan Antonio Pizzi is the poor conversion rate of his side.

Vargas had at least a half a dozen opportunities to score in the match but scuffed some glorious goal-scoring opportunities He blasted the ball over the bar rather than into the net much to the frustration of the fans.

Chile is definitely an exciting side to watch because of their slick, free-flowing brand of football as they almost pushed up their whole side in an attempt to get into the lead and don't seem scared to play attacking football knowing that the likes of Arturo  Vidal and Gary Medel can handle things at the back. But they are missing that cutting edge which has proved vital for winning tournaments such as this, as they looked really poor in front of goal despite playing some good football throughout the match.

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La Roja had a lot of chances in the first half itself, with Vargas striking the post minutes into the game. Chile went close through the likes of Arturo Vidal and Vargas, but the latter doesn't seem like the most reliable of strikers, scuffing many chances throughout the match. His movement was terrorising on the day, but Vargas is more of a poacher than anything else and that doesn't really suit Chile's game that often.

Pizzi was forced to bring on Alexis half-way through the 2nd half and he turned instant provider for them, lofting a sweet ball for Vidal to head in and give them the lead. Vargas was redeemed as he did get a lucky goal in the 2nd half, but he won't be so fortunate the next time. The La Roja might play some really entertaining football all around, but they are in for big problems if they don't work on their conversion which has been poor for a few months now and can come back to haunt them later in the Confederations Cup.