Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet visited the team's training base near Nelspruit on Tuesday to wish the players good luck before the opening World Cup match against Honduras.

Bachelet, who left office in March after serving for four years as Chile's first female leader, had photos taken with fans before spending around 45 minutes with the squad and staff during her visit Tuesday.

Bachelet said she had been invited to drop in by the Chilean football association president Harold Mayne-Nicholls and said she hoped the team would do well.

"I've come to accompany the 'Roja' and give them my energy and best wishes," Bachelet said at a news conference, during which she was presented with a red Chile shirt.

Chile suffered a devastating earthquake in February and Bachelet said the World Cup would provide some welcome relief.

"In a year as complicated as the one the country has just been through, this is a present to all those who've gone through difficult times," she said.

The ex-president is also an admitted admirer of Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa.

"I think he's attractive, an interesting guy," she said in a TV program about Bielsa's career broadcast in April. "He has that fatal combination for women of being handsome and mysterious.

"When I first met him he caught my attention as a very intelligent person, very cultured and very austere," she said.

Bachelet was invited to visit the training camp in recognition of her support of the Chilean football association and help in building four new stadiums in the country.

She will reportedly watch all three of Chile's matches in the tournament's first round.

Chile, playing its first World Cup since 1998, plays Honduras on Wednesday in its opening fixture. The team will also face Switzerland and Spain in Group H.

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