Brazil, you can exhale. It took 120 minutes and 10 penalty kicks to decide the rematch between Brazil and Chile on Saturday. Neymar netted home the final penalty for Brazil while Chile’s Gonzalo Jara’s final attempt banged off the right cross bar, sending Chile home and Brazil on to the quarterfinals.
In what was an emotional day by both sides, everything was left on the pitch in this war of attrition between two South American neighbors who know each other very well.
A Brazilian newspaper before the match showed so much confidence in their team that they published the flight schedules of planes leaving Brazil for Chile on Saturday. Perhaps their over confident omen nearly cursed Brazil on this day.
Brazil had not lost in 40 matches on Brazilian soil, and they are now 11-2 against Chile in their last twelve matches.
Brazil opened up the scoring in the 18th minute off a Neymar corner kick. Thiago Silva headed it to the far post where it went directly to David Luiz who kicked it in for his first ever goal for Brazil. Brazil got exactly what they needed to rattle Chile and keep the stadium rocking. Brazil is now 55-3 in all time World Cup history after scoring first.
Neymar’s FC Barcelona teammate, Alexis Sanchez, quieted the crowd in the 32nd minute with the equalizer. Hulk turned it over in his own zone and Sanchez put some nice touch on a shot in the box that got past Cesar.
Right before halftime, it looked like Chile would score the go ahead goal when Alexis Sanchez got into the box and sent a beautiful pass to Aranguiz who was open. He sent his shot to the far post when David Luiz flew in out of nowhere and blocked the shot out of play. It was an amazing save and block by David Luiz.
The second half started with another controversial call in the World Cup that I’m sure will be talked about for days. In the 55th minute, Hulk took a pass off the chest and upper right shoulder and found the back of the net for what appeared to be a goal, but after Chile pleaded with the referee, the goal was disallowed and Hulk was given a yellow card for a handball. In what will surely be another case for instant replay in the sport, close up replays showed the ball may have hit off the chest and armpit.
Julio Cesar made the save of the match in the 64th minute when Chile’s Mauricio Isla sent a beautiful pass off the backline to Aranguiz in the center of the box. His shot was hard and on target, but Cesar was able to get there and turn it away. Another great opportunity was missed by Chile.
Neymar had a great opportunity in the 81st minute as Brazil began to gain some momentum and get some opportunities on goal. Chile’s defense held up however and the game remain deadlocked for the final ten minutes.
In extra time, it was announced that there had been 24 fouls in the match, the most in any World Cup match thus far. In the first period of extra time, Chile delayed a lot. It appeared they would be happy to survive the next thirty minutes and play for penalty kicks. Unless they were playing opossum, Brazil had an opportunity to strike.
The score was still tied as we went into the second half of extra time. Brazil substituted Willian for Oscar and hoped the fresh legs would get Brazil the game winning goal they so desperately needed.
The war of attrition continued for both sides in the final ten minutes of the match before penalties when Chile’s Gary Medel’s legs appeared to have given out and he was forced to come off the pitch.
The final five minutes of the match looked more like two teams playing an international friendly with nothing on the line, than two teams playing in the knockout stages of the World Cup. There was no urgency, no attacking, and no pressing by either team. It appeared that both teams were simply satisfied with going to penalties.
The match and the tournament almost ended for Brazil in the final seconds of time. Chile’s Mauricio Pinilla, nearly won it for Chile when his long distance shot struck cleanly off the cross bar. An inch lower and Brazil would have been spectators for the remainder of the Cup. The game would go to penalties.
For the hundreds of thousands of Brazilians across the country who have waited 64 years for this World Cup, this outcome was certainly not what any of them expected: five penalty shots to determine who would continue to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and who would be going home.
Brazil’s David Luiz went first and scored. Chile’s Mauricio Pinilla went first for Chile and missed! Saved by Julio Cesar. Willian went next for Brazil and missed wide of the net. Chile’s Alexis Sanchez went second for Chile and again, Julio Cesar made a huge save. Marcelo went next for Brazil and although Claudio Bravo got his hand on it, it found the back of the net. Chile’s third shooter was Charles Aranguiz who drilled it to the upper right corner of the net. The fourth shooter for Brazil was Hulk, Hulk was the man of the match for Brazil and his shot was blocked. Bravo guessed correctly and blocked the shot with his legs. The fourth shooter for Chile was Marcelo Diaz who nailed the shot. It would all come down to Neymar. All of Brazil held their collective breaths as their superstar set up for the shot. His juke, dance and stutter step before the shot worked as he scored easily. The last shooter for Chile was Gonzalo Jara, who hit the right post ending the match and the tournament for Chile.
Tears flowed on both sides after the match as the contest was not only physically draining, but emotionally exhausting for players on both sides. For Chile, the heartbreak from this one will last a long time but they can hold their heads high as they took it to the World Cup favorites and almost pulled off the upset.
Brazil will next meet the winner of Colombia and Uruguay on fourth for July.
Game Notes:
Chile has made it to the round of 16 three times in their history. Each time they faced Brazil and each time they have lost. Coming into the match Brazil had only lost two of their previous 18 World Cup matches. With the goal today, Chile’s Alexis Sanchez has scored five goals in his last six appearances. Brazil posted their lowest passing accuracy at 69.5% in a World Cup game since 1966. Brazil has now failed to score in extra-time in their last six appearances.
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