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Miners watch Chile-Ukraine soccer match

By the CNN Wire Staff
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24 hours in Chile's 'Camp Hope'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The miners were able to watch a soccer match live via a projector
  • It's been 34 days since they were trapped in the mine
  • NASA experts say their eventual rescue is only the first step in their recovery

Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- The 33 workers trapped in a Chilean mine got a rare treat Tuesday night: they got to watch their national soccer team compete against Ukraine via a small projector wired down to their safety chamber on a fiber optic cable.

Chile lost, 2-1.

But it was a diversion, nonetheless, as the miners try to distract themselves while rescue crews continue drilling down to save them on Day 34 of their ordeal.

Ximena Matas, a spokeswoman for the Chilean minerals ministry, told reporters Wednesday that the drill being used in what's called rescue Plan A has driven through 28 more meters (about 31 yards) of earth since Tuesday for a total distance of 141 meters (154 yards). The Plan B drill plunged 145 meters (158 yards) more, to reach a total of 268 meters (293 yards), she said, and equipment for the Plan C drill will begin arriving Wednesday evening.

Plan A could take up to four months to reach the men, officials have said. The Plan B operation could get to them in two months, while the Plan C option -- which could turn out to be the fastest -- may not be ready to put into action until late September, authorities have said.

The workers are trapped at a depth of 2,300 feet inside of a chamber in the mine. When rescuers first found them, the men told officials they had survived for more than 17 days by sharing a jar of peaches and small amounts of tuna and mackerel that were in their shelter.

Video: Miners in 'excellent' spirits
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By last week, their meals included bread with ham and turkey, wine cookies, stroganoff with pasta primavera, peaches in juice, nutritional supplements, bread with caramel spread, chicken in sauce and plantains.

A team of experts from NASA held meetings with Chilean officials Tuesday to discuss the miners' eventual extraction and their lives beyond that.

Dr. Michael Duncan, the deputy chief medical officer at Johnson Space Center, said the Chileans viewed the extraction of the miners as the end of the rescue operations. The Americans suggested that given the delicate recovery and re-integration of the miners, the actual rescue was just but a step in a longer process.

For example, there is their re-introduction to their families and society, and the pressures they will feel from others and the media, he said. They will have to cope with a certain level of celebrity status for having survived in the mine, he added.

NASA psychologist Al Holland, who was also a member of the U.S. delegation, said that the miners were in great spirits. The fact that they had organized themselves into groups and established a hierarchy among themselves before being found in the mine was good for their mental well-being, he said.

Holland said he shared with the Chileans ideas about the importance of sleep and wake cycles and creating a systematic way of positioning lighting to that end.

Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich told CNN the miners have been assigned tasks underground. The men have been divided into teams to manage the tubes that carry the supplies that are their lifeblood. One miner is in charge of setting the schedule of when they eat and sleep, another of nutritional matters and another of medical needs, he said.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann in Copiapo contributed to this report.

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Learn more about the 33 trapped miners and the rescue plans
Timeline
Milestones in the rescue efforts
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