Chile coach targets top spot

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli is adamant his side will resist the urge to ease up ahead of their final Group B fixture at the FIFA World Cup.

Sampaoli’s men face the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Monday, with both teams having already secured qualification for the last 16 at the expense of reigning champions Spain and Australia.

With a place in the knockout stages assured, Chile could be forgiven for taking their foot off the pedal.

However, Sampaoli insists that will not be the case as the South American nation bid to pip the Netherlands to top spot.

“We will face a tough team that is having a great World Cup, (but) we want to win the group,” he said. “It will be a tough match.

“Holland have much more experience in the World Cup (than Chile). Louis van Gaal has much more experience than me.

“Very few countries have reached three World Cup finals, (but) we are not here to destroy the dream of Netherlands, but to build our own dream.

“We have emphasised this to the players, who have trained double shifts to win the match. We will not save anything.”

With nothing decided in Group A, it is unclear who Chile will meet in the second round, although Sampaoli is not fazed by the prospect of potentially facing hosts Brazil.

“We do not have a choice of our opponent in the next round,” he added.

“We are choosing not to think about, we are thinking about Holland.

“You cannot choose (who we will play), we must be guided by the way you play and deal with it the best way.

“Each team will be structured differently, they are different opponents, with different schools (of playing).

“If we have to play for Brazil, we will prepare for that.”