Chile's Cristopher Toselli has been unbeatable

By John F. Molinaro, CBCSports.ca

Eight hours. 480 minutes. 28,800 seconds.

Chile has gone undefeated at this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup to book its first semifinal appearance since the 1987 tournament staged on home soil.

And the person they have to thank most is goalkeeper Cristopher Toselli.

In recording his fifth-straight shutout with a 4-0 win over Nigeria in the quarter-finals, Toselli has gone 480 consecutive minutes - eight hours - without conceding a goal.

Cristopher Toselli has recorded five shutouts at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

He needs to go just five more minutes to better the tournament record set by Brazil's Claudio Taffarel, who went 484 minutes without giving up a goal at the 1985 competition in the Soviet Union.

That record seems certain to fall at the feet of Toselli, a player who, remarkably, wasn't even his country's starting goalkeeper six months ago.

Even though he stands on the verge of making tournament history, Toselli remains modest about his overall performance in the tournament.

"To be honest, I didn't have a lot of work to do because my defenders hardly ever let them get through. But it was a very tough game," Toselli said after the Nigeria match.

"We were very tired but we managed to keep going thanks to our motivation. We played with our hearts. We're more than just a football team; we have a great bond."

Toselli, 19, is a member of the reserve team for Santiago-based Universidad Catolica, the top pro club in Chile, and played for the Chilean under-17 national team before graduating to the under-20 side.

He was part of the Chilean under-20 squad that competed at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay this past January. But Toselli began the tournament on the bench, being called into action after starting goalkeeper Richard Leyton gave up five goals in the first two games, both of them losses.

The young Universidad Catolica star rose to the challenge, posting back-to-back victories over Bolivia (a 4-0 shutout) and Peru to help Chile advance to the second round.

As the competition went on, the pressure grew, but Toselli continued to perform brilliantly, posting another shutout victory (against Colombia) and helping Chile earn draws with eventual tournament winners Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

Thanks to Toselli's heroics, Chile ended up finishing in fourth place and earning a berth at this summer's U-20 World Cup.

Now he has Taffarel's record in his sights.

"I would be delighted to make history for sure, but I owe my success to our defence," Toselli said.