Argentina and Brazil cannot be faced until the final of the tournament but first Jorge Sampaoli's side must beat the reigning champions after finishing top of Group A
Chile will be relishing the relatively straightforward path to the Copa America final they have been handed ahead of Wednesday's quarter-final against Uruguay.
Should La Roja defeat the Celeste - who do not look like the side who conquered the competition four years ago - then they would face Bolivia or Peru in the last four, dodging Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay until at least the final.
Host nation Chile are the competition's top scorers with 10 from their three games as Jorge Sampaoli's side booked their place in the last eight by topping Group A.
Having taken four points off Ecuador and Mexico, Sampaoli's men hammered Bolivia 5-0 to set up a quarter-final tie with a Uruguay team yet to hit such heights, claiming just four points in their group campaign.
The defending champions have only scored twice - the long-term absence of suspended striker Luis Suarez undoubtedly a contributing factor - although captain Diego Godin returns from suspension for the match in Santiago.
While Tabarez can welcome back influential skipper Godin into his back line, full-back Alvaro Pereira will serve a suspension after accumulating two yellow cards.
It is up front where Tabarez has problems, with Edinson Cavani struggling to fire in a central position. Reports suggest that the Uruguay boss could opt for a three-man defence with Cristian Rodriguez used as one of two full-backs.
The city of Santiago was shut temporarily on Monday due to smog concerns, although things have since improved in the capital, with Godin playing down any fears over the pollution.
"We saw on TV about the pollution but we have not discussed anything with the doctor," Godin said, before turning his attentions to the pressures that Chile may face.
"Chile are favourite. They are local and want to win the title for the first time, they are with their people and have that pressure. We know it is their opportunity to earn a historic title."
Chile and Uruguay Copa America quarterfinal will be decided in midfield
Chile scored 10 goals in the group phase of the Copa America. No other team managed more than four. This is good news for a team that went into the championship worried about not taking enough of its chances. But it also might give something of a false impression.
Leonardo Veliz, 1974 World Cup veteran and one of the most respected voices in Chilean football, certainly thinks so.
"The Chile that qualified did not convince me," he wrote on Tuesday in his column for the newspaper, La Tercera. "Its apparent brilliance came only against an already qualified Bolivia [the final group game, which Chile won 5-0]. Those five goals against Bolivia hide a reality. There are great individual strengths... but also gaping collective weaknesses which could be exposed against opponents with more quality."
Veliz is maybe being a little harsh. Perhaps the best football Chile played in the group phase came in the second half against Mexico, but there are two points where he is clearly correct. First, that there are problems in the defence: Mexico's second string team took advantage of them to secure a 3-3 draw. Chile, the shortest team in the competition, do not defend well against the high ball and there are times, such as with that third Mexican goal, when the entire back line can be taken out with one pass.
Now, all that changes. In the quarterfinals, it is a case of win or bust. There is no extra time, just 90 minutes to break the deadlock before a penalty shoot-out. The clock is ticking all the way from the off and their opponents are a team who should put fear into the heart of any Copa America host. Chile must do battle against Uruguay on Wednesday.
In both the past two Copas and in three of the last five, Uruguay have eliminated the hosts at the quarterfinal stage. There is something about playing a big knock-out match with the whole stadium against them that brings out the best in the Uruguayans. Old timers would point to their famous win against Brazil in the Maracana in the 1950 World Cup. They even ended South Africa's dream in the 2010 World Cup, and they are capable of doing it again.
It's true that the Uruguayans are already without Luis Suarez, still suspended after his antics last year. And a cloud has now appeared over Edinson Cavani. His father was involved in a traffic accident in which a motorbike rider was killed. But the deeper they have to dig, the more the Uruguayans seem to like it. They have other attacking options: the mobile and sinuous Diego Rolan has enjoyed an interesting tournament, and there is Abel Hernandez, the speedy Jonathan Rodriguez as well as the talented playmaker, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, in reserve.
The two teams met in Santiago's National stadium as recently as last November. Chile were looking for warm-up opponents to prepare them for the pressures of the Copa and Uruguay lived up to their billing, holding off a furious Chilean opening few minutes before going on to win 2-1.
Missing that day was Chile's playmaker Jorge Valdivia, a key character in this opening quarterfinal. Now 31, Valdivia is the enfant terrible of Chilean football. Dogged by injuries and with his attitude open to question, he has never come close to fulfilling his potential. But this is his moment. Coach Jorge Sampaoli trusts him to be the problem solver, the man to come up with something special and unlock the opposing defence in the attacking third. Valdivia can supply that defence-splitting pass.
When Chile are at their best, throwing men forward at pace, Valdivia is often at the heart of the action, switching the play or supplying the strikers with the vision and quality of his passing. But can he last the pace? Can he turn on the magic for a fourth time in less than two weeks?
Uruguay will seek to cancel him out with their specialist spoiler, Egidio Arevalo Rios. The little defensive midfielder is the soul of the side. He is nothing to look at, but he is vital to the team.
Arevalo Rios plays within his limitations, never attempting things he cannot do. But he cajoles and marks, covers space and snaps into his tackles. Perhaps, at the age of 33, time is beginning to catch up with him, a problem for Uruguay because they have yet to groom a natural replacement. Coach Oscar Washington Tabarez may well have spotted the signs of the decline of one of the pillars of his team. It has been interesting that during the tournament Tabarez has hit on the idea of using Alvaro Gonzalez, one of his versatile favourites, tucked in alongside Arevalo Rios to share the workload.
That duel, then, in the centre of the field, may well contain the key to the destiny of this fascinating quarterfinal, which holds out a glittering prize. The winner will be up against either Peru or Bolivia in the next round. On paper, at least, it represents the most straightforward path to the grand final.
Tim Vickery is an English journalist who has been based in Brazil for the past 20 years. He is the South American football correspondent for the BBC Sport.
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