Sadly, Chile was eliminated from the World Cup finals on Monday when they lost to Brazil (who, as everyone in the office here says, is “Impossible to beat because they dance Samba with the ball on the soccer field”).

But the players returned to Chile today and were greeted with pride by hundreds of fans and admirers in the Plaza Moneda here in Santiago.

Last week I was astonished by the lengths Chileans were going to in order to see their team play. Most especially by their obsession with acquiring high-def flatscreen TVs …