Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli named Juventus star Arturo Vidal in his World Cup team to face Australia in Cuiaba on Friday.
The 28-year-old midfielder’s participation was in jeopardy after struggling with an inflammation to his right knee following surgery on a meniscus problem last month.
He played a 15 minute cameo role in a friendly last week but then missed a handful of training sessions before returning to prepare for this Group B encounter with his teammates on Wednesday.
He was accorded a rousing reception from the 20,000-strong Chile support at the Arena Pantanal when taking to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.
Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez led the Chile attack against an Australia side captained by Crystal Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak.
Australia’s all-time top goalscorer Tim Cahill, appearing like fellow veteran Mark Bresciano in his third World Cup, and Mathew Leckie led the Socceroos frontline.
Teams
Chile
Claudio Bravo (capt); Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Eugenio Mena; Marcelo Diaz, Charles Arranguiz, Arturo Vidal; Jorge Valdivia, Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas
Coach: Jorge Sampaoli (ARG)
Australia
Mathew Ryan; Ivan Franjic, Matthew Spiranovic, Alex Wilkinson, Jason Davidson; Mark Bresciano, Mile Jedinak (capt), Mark Milligan, Tommy Oar; Tim Cahill, Mathew Leckie
Coach: Ange Postecoglou
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV)
