WATCH: The ‘Los 33’ group of miners who survived 69 days trapped underground appear in a new ad pledging support for their Chilean team at the World Cup.
Chile’s odds of withstanding the month-long grind of the 2014 World Cup to qualify then win the championship game in Brazil in mid-July sit at 40 to one, according to odds makers.
They’re a long shot. But the country’s national soccer team is getting a vote of confidence from a group of compatriots who have faced even longer odds – and far graver stakes – and won.
The 33 survivors of the Copiapó mining accident, which saw just under three dozen miners trapped underground for 69 days in 2010 appeared this week on Chilean television in a commercial produced by national bank Banco de Chile.
READ MORE: Complete lead up coverage to 2014 World Cup
Standing in front of the other 32 survivors, who stood shoulder to shoulder with arms locked together, Mario Sepulveda, a leader among the “Los 33,” gave an impassioned pledge to the national side that the 33 men alongside all of Chile are behind the team.
“There are harder things in life and you can conquer them,” Sepulveda told The Associated Press. “Chile will not only pass to the second round, but it will surprise everyone.”
Sepulveda narrated and hosted videos sent to the surface during the two-and-a-half-month ordeal to reassure Chile and a worldwide audience the group was faring well.
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