A Very Chile 2010

A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 had hit Chile in February affecting about two million people. Four months later at the World Cup the Chile National Team were critically acclaimed as being one of the most attractive footballing teams to watch at the tournament. Now four months after the World Cup, Chile were back in the news after 33 miners in Chile were rescued after spending 69 days in a San Jose mine.

The miners are not saying much so far about what it was really like after the cave-in that left them huddled together in a humid cavern. Some of them are talking about saving their stories for a book about those 69 hellish days. Publishing experts say a book by the miners could be quite profitable.

When the mine caved in, the men were thought to have died in yet another of Latin America's litany of mining accidents. Rescuers found them two and a half weeks later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit.

That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass down hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive. A bigger shaft was later bored to bring them up.

The miners were hauled out one by one on Wednesday in a metal capsule little wider than a man's shoulders and dubbed "Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes.

Chile President Sebastian Pinera said he thought Chile was "more united and stronger than ever", and "more valued" worldwide.

The San Jose mine may now be turned into some sort of Museum and the capsule which helped moved the miners from the mine to the surface is reportdly valued at $1m. Whatever happens in the future, 2010 will be a year that Chile will never forget.