FIFA World Cup 2014 :Brazil vs Chile

28th June 201422:00

World Cup
*Round of 16 ( Match 49 )
Stadium: Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Brazil will play Chile on Saturday as the World Cup 2014 Round of 16 gets underway. The hosts will be favorites to win their way through to the quarterfinals, however, Chile will pose a serious challenge and if the Brazilians are not at the peak of their game, there could be an upset here today. The game is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ABC network or online through free live stream (details below).

Side: The Brazilians finally came to life against hapless Cameroon in the final group stage match. The Seleção got multiple goals from Neymar in the opening half and then opened up the match with second half goals from Fred and Fernando Luiz Roza. However, the Brazilian back line was not exactly perfect as they allowed a goal to Cameroon when a one-on-one battle was lost on the wing and then the two center backs fell asleep on a simple cross. Brazil made a much more concerted effort in the match to get their attacking players forward. In the games with Croatia and Mexico there was a little bit of apprehension in going fully forward, but against Cameroon it all went away and the beautiful Brazil was back. Against Chile, they will likely go into the match expecting to press forward just as they did against Cameroon, but will quickly realize the Chilean midfield is killer when the ball is turned over. It will likely force Brazil to be slightly less adventurous and they may rely more on quick combination play rather than the flood of attackers that produced four goals against the Indomitable Lions. Defensively Thiago Silva and David Luiz have to be in tune with each other. Chile loves to play the ball from the wings into the center which is demanding on central defenders. Finally, they must keep their eyes on Alexis Sanchez at all times. When the Dutch slowed Sanchez the Chilean attack looked much less threatening, but it’s definitely easier said than done.

Chile have been an impressive side thus far but ran into a brick wall in their final group game against the Netherlands. La Roja had been enjoying the first two matches of the tournament pressing midfielders and then finding heaps of space in front of opposing defenses. The Dutch allowed none of it. Holland opted to sit back and let Chile come at them rather than forcing possession and allowing Chile to try and turn them over. The Chileans looked lost and were almost begging Alexis Sanchez or Eduardo Vargas to break down the Dutch defense. Brazil is not a team that is known to sit back and let teams attack them, but neither is Holland and their blueprint may be awfully tempting to follow. Chile must be much more creative in the final third using combination passing and better crosses to put the pressure on the central defense of Brazil. The good news for Chile is the midfield will not be nearly as clogged up in this match as it was in the one with the Netherlands. Brazil play an open style of game and it could play right into the hands of Chile. The biggest concern is will the Chilean back three, all of which are not natural center backs, keep the ridiculously talented Brazilians at bay. They could change formation, but it’s not usually in the DNA of South American teams to give in to an opponent. They must get better help from their midfielders and simply cannot give the ball away sloppily in the center of the field. Chile is certainly good enough to win the match, but Brazil may have just hit their stride. Add in the fact that the match will be played in Brazil and it might be too tall a task for one of the most fun teams remaining in the tournament.