Group A and Group B winners, Brazil and Chile, are the first to start off the round of 16. Brazil is wearing their signature yellow and green, while Chile wears red and blue. It’s surprising that Chile has made it this far, considering their group consisted of the Netherlands and Spain. Spain was the favourite along with the Netherlands, but Spain didn’t even make it past the group rounds surprising many.
Both Brazil and Chile players are walking in with quite a few yellow cards already under their belt. Brazil has three, while Chile has four.
The first half begins and Brazil is at the top of their game. They are on fire. They hold most of the possession and are passing the ball to one another effortlessly.
Brazil’s star player, Neymar, is pushed down quite a few times during the first half and should have been awarded at least a few free kicks, but the referee seems to think Chile did nothing wrong. When Neymar’s not running, he’s limping. However, he continues to play. The Brazilians are pushing hard and both teams are running fast.
Chile gets an amazing opportunity in the first half. The Brazilian defensemen are scattered and not in front of the net like they should be. Despite this luck on Chile’s side, they are still unable to score.
The Brazilians get knocked over quite a few times by the Chile players. The ref is lenient and doesn’t award many free kicks. Chile receives the first yellow card of the match due to a handball by Mena. He now misses their next match.
Brazil gets a corner kick. Neymar takes the kick and Brazilian defender Luiz is able to tap the ball in the net with his foot. Brazil scores and now they’re up by one!
Neymar gets kicked down a few more times. Eventually, he gets a breakaway. He passes the ball over but unfortunately, no one is there and the ball goes out. Neymar gets knocked down again. One of the Chile players, Vidal, bumped into him sending Neymar falling onto his head. Medical staff attends but he continues to play.
A poor throw-in by Brazil’s Marcelo allows Chile to get possession of the ball. Surprisingly, Sanchez of Chile scores by shooting the ball into the far left corner of the net. This goal ties up the game. This goal by Chile seems to give them more confidence as they begin to take more possession of the ball. Brazil receives two corners but are unable to score.
Two minutes of additional time is added for the first half. Chile gets some amazing opportunities during this time due to sloppy mistakes by the Brazilians but are unable to score. The first half comes to an end and the score is still tied.
Chile owns the second half, taking most of the possession. However, Brazil’s Hulk does score in the far left corner of the net and is under impression he got a goal, but the referee says there’s no goal because it was a handball and then proceeds to give him a yellow card.
Three minutes of additional time is added for the second half, but the game ends in a tie. They then go into 30 minutes of extra time, switching sides halfway through.
Jo of Brazil accidentally kicks the Chile goalie in the chest. The referee gives him a yellow card. Pinilla of Chile gets a yellow card for tripping. Both teams take shots on net but are unable to score. One minute of additional time is added for the first half. Alves of Brazil receives a yellow card for no reason. He was standing there and the Chile player fell by running into him. Alves never touched him. Bad call by the referee.
The second half begins and Brazil is coming on strong, but they're still unable to score. A Chile player gets hurt and is carried off the field on a stretcher. Two more Chile players get hurt but they continue to play. Brazil frantically passes between each other trying to keep possession and somehow find a way to score. Towards the end of the half, Chile takes possession and has an amazing shot on net and almost scores, but the ball hits the crossbar.
The half ends and the game is still tied. They then have to go into the penalty shoot-out, a mix of luck and skill.
Brazil goes first and Luiz scores. Chile takes a shot next but Julio Cesar, the Brazilian keeper, saves it. Willian goes next for Brazil and completely misses the net. Chile goes next and the Brazilian goalies saves it again! Marcelo of Brazil goes next and scores! Chile is up and they get their first goal. Cesar didn’t even have a chance of saving that one. Brazil’s Hulk is up next. He shoots and the Chile goalie saves it. Chile takes a shot next and he scores. This ties up the game. Whoever scores next wins the game. Brazil is up. Neymar takes the last shot and scores! Chile takes their last shot, the whole game riding on this last shot. The Chile player is unable to score. He hits the post. The whole stadium erupts into cheers as this long game comes to an end. Brazil wins!
Overall, Brazil had 53% possession of the ball, but it came down to a 3-2 win in the penalty shoot-out. Personally, I’m glad they won. They deserved to win. They played well, and how cool would it be if they won the World Cup in their own country?
