More World Cup: Brazil vs. Chile Matchtracker | Complete schedule
It took 120 minutes of play and five penalty kicks from each side, but the first knockout stage game has finally been decided.
Chile pushed Brazil to the absolute brink of elimination, but Gonzalo Jara's penalty kick rang the post, thus allowing the Brazilians through to the quarterfinals.
The scoring started fairly early, as David Luiz tapped in a goal off a corner kick just 18 minutes into the game. It may have in fact been an own goal, but the result remains the same. Chile answered after a bad defensive gaffe by Brazil gave Alexis Sanchez a fairly easy chance from inside the box.
Brazil went on to dominate play for the remainder of the half, but they couldn't find the net. The second half was a sloppy affair, with both sides largely unable to find a rhythm and generate any chances. The Brazilians were able to take control of the latter stages of the game through the overtime period, but they couldn't break through Chile's defense.
Then, in the final moments, Mauricio Pinilla somehow found the ball in position to score, but his shot hit the crossbar. Brazil had a chance of its own, but they failed to get a shot on their end.
So to penalties it went, and Chile was playing catch-up right from the start. Brazil jumped to a 2-0 lead, but Chile was able to pull even at two heading into the fifth round. Neymar scored for Brazil, setting up Jara's final effort. He appeared to have Brazil keeper Julio Cesar beat, but his shot struck the inside of the post.
Brazil will face Colombia, which beat Uruguay 2-0.
FINAL: Brazil 1 (Luiz 18') - Chile 1 (Sanchez 32')
Penalty kicks: Brazil 3 - Chile 2
Round 5/5: Neymar. Of course. Score. All comes down to this; Gonzalo Jara hits the post. Hate to see it end like that. Brazil wins.
Round 4/5: Hulk stuffed on a kick save! Chile back in this; Marcelo Diaz scores it. We're tied. Here comes Neymar.
Round 3/5: Marcelo just gets it past Bravo, who gets a hand on it; Charles Aranguiz buries it.
Round 2/5: William misses wide. Had the keeper beaten easily; Alexis Sanchez stopped on a GREAT save by Cesar.
Round 1/5: David Luiz makes; Mauricio Panilla stuffed by Cesar. Wow. Same guy who hit the post.
120'+ -- Ramires has a decent go, but it scoots wide. Lot of action in the last few minutes, but it looks like we're going to penalties.
120' -- WHATTT. Out of nowhere Chile gets a chance, but Pinilla rings the crossbar. Unbelievable.
120' -- Everyone is tired and falling over and kicking the ball weird places.
117' -- Chile content to make it to penalties. Just sitting back and letting Brazil come at them. No way through.
112' -- Brazil uses a free kick to set up a Dani Alves blast from distance, but it's high. Doesn't make much sense, really, seeing as the Brazilians would have an advantage on set pieces.
107' -- Good chance for Brazil on a corner, but Jo's header goes just high.
105'+ -- Dani Alves inexplicably fouls just before the whistle, giving Alexis Sanchez a free kick fro 25 yards. It goes wide.
103' -- Hulk has a go from deep, but another good save from Bravo.
102' -- Header from Oscar on a cross from Hulk, but it's right into Bravo's hands. Brazil dominating possession.
100' -- Decent ball in for Jo, but he can't get his foot around it and the shot is blocked.
93' -- Jo puts his boot into the chest of the keeper, and you're not allowed to do that. He gets a yellow, but it looked worse than it was.
91' -- Hulk earns a free kick after a nice run and implores the crowd for noise. YOU BETTER LISTEN TO HIM, CROWD.
91' -- And we're underway in extra time. Alexis Sanchez is showing a lot of thigh. We'll see if that matters. Probably won't.
Full time: Couple anxious moments for Brazil as Chile threatens late, but they're held out. Two 15-minute halves now -- no golden goal -- followed by penalty kicks if the teams remain tied.
90' -- Brazil completely unable to maintain possession. They continue to try long balls that just aren't working.
84' -- WOW. Another great stop by Bravo as Hulk blasts one from just inside the box. Chile kind of hanging on here after dominating much of the half.
81' -- Dani Alves sends a ball right in front of the net for Neymar who gets a head on it, but it's swallowed by Bravo. Brazil slowling beginning to assert itself somewhat.
76' -- Hulk has a try, but it's awful. TENSION RISING
75' -- Great chance for Brazil, but Jo whiffs in front of the net on a nice cross from Hulk.
66' -- It has been sloppy for Brazil throughout the half. They do not look particularly cohesive -- a far cry from the first half.
64' -- Wow. Chile almost jumps ahead on a nice play, but Julio Cesar makes a HUGE save.
60' -- Luiz Gustavo given a yellow card for Brazil, so he'll be out for the next match.
58' -- At least to this point, the whistle has not gone in Brazil's favor. Not that they've gotten bad calls, really, just they haven't been given the benefit of the doubt.
55' -- Hulk scores but it's wiped away due to a hand ball. It was really, really close. In any event, no goal; Hulk gets a yellow.
49' -- Try for Fernandinho goes wide. Each minute that passes will bring more anxiety. Brazil looking better defensively, so far.
46' -- Back at it. Should be quite exciting.
Halftime: Chile has to be pleased with the score, but it's hard to imagine they'll be able to keep Brazil out of the net in the second half. Though the longer they can do that, the more pressure there will be. Plus, their defense has been bad, as it has all tournament. The scoring is far from over.
45'+ -- Another bad giveaway by Brazile and Chile almost converts again. Somehow it was kept out.
44' -- Chile returns the disastrous-giveaway-in-front-of-goal favor, but playing the role of Alexis Sanchez is Fred, and it did not go well.
42' -- Dani Alves tries one from distance that nearls knuckles past Bravo, who is just able to punch it over the crossbar.
40' -- Chile's Francisco Silva gets a yellow for barking at the official. He's out for the next match, as well.
39' -- Wonderful deep ball by Oscar to Neymar, but he loses it in the box. BUT FRED IS THERE to blast it over the net. It has not been Fred's tournament.
36' -- Neymar very nearly gets it back, but his header just goes wide. The ensuing corner results in a wild scrum in front of the goal, but Brazil can't get a shot off.
32' -- GOOOOOOOALLLLL THAT WAS UNEXPECTED. Disastrous giveaway by Brazil near its own box, and Alexis Sanchez takes care of the rest. Stunned silence in the stadium.
31' -- Neymar is going down a lot, usually with little contact. Almost like Brazil is trying to make it appear that he is being targeted.
26' -- Excellent run forward by Neymar, who blazes past a host of Chile defenders, but his left foot betrays him and his shot dribbles wide.
23' -- Chile is in a tough spot here, obviously. They've answered with some attack, but Brazil is resilient. Bit of a danger zone here.
18' -- GOALLLLLLL. David Luiz finds himself at the far post on a corner and dinks in his first career goal for Brazil. Good timing. Great flick on by Thiago Silva.
17' -- Eugenio Mena gets a yellow card after a handball. He'll miss the next match.
16' -- Neymar gets ahead of the Chilean defense and does a series of cool dribbling tricks, but his through ball gets cleared.
15' -- Free kick from an awkward angle just outside the box taken by Neymar, but he can't manage to get it by Claudio Bravo.
13' -- First questionable call of the match. Hulk goes down in the box, but no call. Really could have gone either way.
11' -- Dangerous opportunity for Chile, but the cross is picked off by Julio Cesar. The ball falls to Neymar on the other end, but mishandled it.
7' -- Neymar getting a bit of treatment on the sideline now. Looks like a knee -- at least that's where they were squirting water, which can't possibly help. Perhaps just a knee-knock resulting in a bruise. He's trying to run it off.
6' -- Marcelo has a go after a corner is cleared to him. Nice blast, just wide. At least he's shooting at the proper goal this time.
5' -- Neymar is limping. Everyone in Brazil is LOSING it.
3' -- Fernandinho takes out Aranguiz -- no card. Chile retaliates -- no card. Physical early.
1' -- Here we go. 100 percent possession to Chile thus far. Expect that to change.
Pregame
noon ET: Well the anthem for Brazil was awesome. And I would give Brazil the crowd advantage.
A sea of yellow, with pockets of red. Outnumbered in Belo Horizonte. #Bra #Chi pic.twitter.com/Ll15EqYyph
— KICKTV (@KICKTV) June 28, 2014
11:45 a.m. ET: So here we are -- do-or-die time. Chile and Brazil mark the first game of the knockout stage, with the winner going through and the loser headed home. For Brazil, that would be a short, albeit painful, journey.
It really can't be overstated how important this game, and those that could come in the future, will be to the Brazilians. There's a lot of pressure, but then again they're the best side in the world.
Here are the lineups.
Brazil: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo; Luiz Gustavo, Fernandinho, Oscar; Neymar, Hulk, Fred.
Chile: Bravo; Silva, Medel, Jara; Isla, Aranguiz, Diaz, Mena; Vidal; Sánchez, Vargas.
Brazil vs. Chile | Kickoff: 6/28, 12 p.m. ET | Stadium: Mineirao, Belo Horizonte
Match Preview: It's very simple for Brazil: Win the entire World Cup or else the entire nation will be disappointed.
Certainly that's a touch melodramatic -- well, maybe -- but it's not too divorced from the truth. Anything short of the championship for this side swimming in talent will be at least upsetting, and it would be disastrous for their run to be ended by a South American team that hasn't beaten them in 10 years.
This is a long way of saying that the pressure is on Brazil.
But let's not get all weepy for a team boasting the likes of Neymar, Fred, David Luiz, Hulk, Oscar, Dani Alves -- the list goes on. It's an embarrassment of riches, as it often is for the Brazilians, and they'll have the added advantage of a partisan crowd Saturday.
And Neymar. Oh, Neymar. He's been arguably the best striker of the tournament thus far, notching four goals in Brazil's three group games.
But Chile doesn't expect to be a pushover, winning twice to take second in Group B. They first took care of business against Australia, winning 3-1. Then, in a must-win for the defending champs, Chile blanked Spain, 2-0. They were humbled by the Netherlands in their final group match, getting shut out 2-0, but Chile has plenty of positivity heading into Saturday's match with Brazil.
But if there was any hope for the Chileans that they could sneak up on mighty Brazil, that doesn't appear to be in the works. Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari warned of Chile's talent after the group draws in December, and even said that he hoped they didn't get through to the second round.
"I’d prefer any other side," Scolari said of Chile in December. "They’re an awkward team to play. They’re organized and their system doesn’t fit in with ours. They’re intelligent and a good side."
It appears the message has gotten to his players, as well.
"They have players with a lot of quality. It's always difficult to play a team like that," Brazil midfielder Luiz Gustavo said, according to the Associated Press. "We don't think about what happened in the past. We have to think about what's in front of us now. Now it's a different story, with new players. Anything is possible."
True. Anything is possible. But is Chile going to beat Brazil on its home soil Saturday at the World Cup? Seems unlikely.
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