Brazil Beat Chile To Reach Quarters...

Brazil will now go on to face Holland in what will be one of the most anticipated quarterfinals after their comfortable and relatively untroubled victory over fellow South Americans, Chile last night. Chile, who finished second in Group H, were the first South American team to be knocked out of the World Cup and were unfortunately just not good enough to see off the 5 times winners.

To their credit, Chile have been exciting to watch in this competition, together with their coach, Marcelo Bielsa or "El Loco" as they like to call him. He has ensured that his team are well drilled and finish the job off properly, but they were always on the losing side of the battle coming into this game with key players - Estrada, Ponce and Medel suspended.

Chile started off the brighter - taking the game to Brazil, but it was nothing that the Brazilian defence coupled with the men in front of them - Gilberto and Ramires, couldn't handle. As the game wore on, slowly but surely Brazil assumed the ascendancy, enjoying more of the possession and more threat going forward. However, it was difficult for them to produce their classic moments of flair and style with Chile quick to get on to the ball everytime Brazil had possession. So if you can't do it the Brazilian way, well then you might as well do it the British way - from a corner kick. In what was the most un-Brazilian of goals, Juan headed home brilliantly after making great contact from Maicon's corner kick. He rose higher than the Chilean defenders who failed to mark him properly and Brazil were 1-0 up.

Chile were then forced to score or else go home without trying. This, as always, left them vulnerable to Brazil counter-attacking football, and in the end this was what was to be their undoing. Just 4 minutes after Juan had scored, a brilliant move by Brazil gave Luis Fabiano his third goal of the tournament. This goal was much more Brazilian in style than the first after Robinho was able to collect the ball on the left and square it to Kaka who was back after his suspension. Kaka took the weight of the ball and it was a perfect pass for Luis Fabiano who made no mistake in skipping past Bravo and slotting the ball into an empty net. A sumptious move which pretty much ended Chile's hopes of a comeback.

Robinho got on the scoresheet not long after half-time to really dent any hopes of a Chile comeback scoring a magnificent goal after a great long run from Ramires, who unselfishly passed the ball out to the Man City man to chip delightfully over Bravo who could do nothing to stop that from going in. Bielsa knew that Chile's time in SA was almost up, but he wasn't going to leave without trying. He used all 3 substitutes shortly after the goal, and Valdivia went close with his strike just going high. Suazo, who had been pretty disappointing until then, did eventually force a save from Cezar but it was well and truly out of their reach as Brazil completely slowed the pace down and Chile's attacking options became limited.

Chile have done themselves proud in this tournament, but were just in a different league to their South American neighbours. It probably didn't help that they were missing some of their best players either. I'd like to say something about the style in which Brazil are playing as it makes for intriguing reading, particularly with their game against the Dutch to come. As I mentioned in the post below, the Dutch are being criticised back home for the way they have been playing in this tournament. They have been winning but not doing so in their 'total' style. They have been clinical, efficient and ruthless. Well Dunga and this Brazilian team are very much the same if you think about it. And, Dunga has also been criticised by the Brazilian media for sacrificing the 'samba' style for a more systematic approach. Dunga has also been clinical, efficient and ruthless, much like van Marwijk. So it will be definitely interesting to see the two similar styles clash with each other from teams that have been known traditionally for their flamboyancy and artistry on the pitch.

Also, I would just like to say a word or two about Gilberto Silva. This man is the real unsung hero of the Brazilian team. He may not be the best going forward but boy does he do his job. Like when he was at Arsenal, Dunga employs him as the holding man - the man who must sit in front of his back four and shield them. Every ball that comes his way, every pass that goes astray - he makes sure he's on to it so that his defence doesn't get hit. Wow, he's so great I've even started writing poetically about him. But in all seriousness, he really is Mr. Reliable. There have not been too many cases when he has done much wrong and he definitely does his fair share of the work for Brazil. It's gonna be tough for the Dutch forwards to get much past him so they had better get their thinking caps on, to come up with ways of getting past the solid rock of wall that is, Gilberto Silva.