体坛英语新闻：Chile's soccer captain dreams of defeating champion Spain

SANTIAGO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The captain of Chile's national soccer team, goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, said Monday the time had come to defeat a rival as high-ranked as Spain, in their upcoming match in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday.

"It's the right time to face off against the world champion. I hope we can do it. It's time to defeat such a high-ranking rival," Bravo was quoted by local media.

"I hope (the match) helps us to grow and to find out where we place. We are very eager" to win, Bravo told a press conference in Geneva, the local media said.

Bravo, who plays goalie for Spain's Real Sociedad, indicated his team was more confident than ever. "We believe a lot more in our team and we feel, on a South American scale, we have a different degree of respect in comparison with what he had a few games ago, when things didn't turn out for us like they do today. Teams face us in a different way and that makes you grow and work in a different way," said Bravo.

Chile plays Spain (at 1800 GMT Tuesday) in a friendly match meant to prepare them for their respective regional qualifying tournaments.

So far, the Chilean team, led by coach Jorge Sampaoli, has at least secured a space in the playoffs for a ticket to the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Argentina leads the South American tournament with 26 points, followed by Colombia (26, but with goal differences), Chile (24), Ecuador (21), Uruguay (19), Venezuela (16), Peru (14), Paraguay (11) and Bolivia (10). The first four teams will automatically advance to the cup, and the fifth-ranked team will go to playoffs against an Asian team for a chance to play in Brazil.

Bravo, one of the top players in the Chilean team, said his dream now is to qualify as soon as possible for Brazil.

"You always have dreams and goals to attain. Our next one is to qualify as soon as possible for the World Cup. We are very close and we depend on our game and our results," said Bravo.

The team captain also referred to upcoming qualifying matches against Colombia and Ecuador in October.

"All the games are very tough, you are always risking something. The good thing is that we depend on us, we're not afraid, or complexed, or anything, we are doing things right. We hope everything turns out well and we secure the qualification as soon as possible and not have to wait until the last moment," he said.