Brazil too hot for Chile

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Chile had been using a national flag recovered from the debris of a house flattened by an earthquake in their country earlier this year for inspiration. Chilean players had revealed that the flag, a fixture at their official team hotel here, was one of the reasons for the South American team’s bullish run. But patriotic fervour wasn’t enough to help Chile upset Brazil in the round of 16.

The pedigree of the five-time champions told at Ellis Park on Monday. And, a mouthwatering quarterfinal against the Dutch now beckons. Chile, who had charmed neutrals with their vibrant performances in the first round, played the reputation of Brazil and paid the price, crashing to a 0-3 defeat without a trace of fight. Chile’s Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa would be pained by his young side’s apparent lack of ambition.
Humberto Suazo’s neat turn inside the box and a subsequent shot on target in the 73rd minute was the only time Chile came close to scoring. Chile failed to cope with the absence of key defenders Waldo Ponce and Gary Medel. Holding midfielder Marco Estrada also missed the match through suspension.
The first half-an-hour hardly resembled a knockout contest in a World Cup, as both teams waited for a mistake from the other side. Chile, who had lost to Brazil heavily (0-3 & 2-4) in the World Cup qualifiers, saw the ball more in the early exchanges but they couldn’t test Brazil’s imperious central defenders, Juan and Lucio.
It was only appropriate that Brazil’s opener came from a set-piece. Juan headed in Maicon’s right-wing corner. Not one Chilean player bothered to mark the Roma defender. Juan, in fact, only had to vie with his teammates to put Brazil ahead. The relief on the face of Dunga was a giveaway because the Selecao have always struggled to open the scoring here.
Brazil hurt their opponents with a devastating counter three minutes later. After starting the move on the left, Robinho squared the ball to Kaka. The Real Madrid star’s response was swift and sweet. Kaka found Fabiano at the centre of the penalty box with a perfectly weighted first-time pass. Fabiano effortlessly sidestepped Gomes, the desperate Chilean goalie, to tap the ball in.
The referee could have blown the final whistle simultaneously with his signal for goal because a Chilean comeback looked impossible, rather than improbable.
Bielsa tried to shake things up with a double substitution at the restart. But nothing worked against Brazil’s rock-like defence.
Robinho inflicted more pain on Bielsa’s boys with a delightful curler by the hour mark. Ramirez, standing in for the injured Felipe Melo, had done the groundwork for Robinho’s first goal of the event with a fine run from the centre circle.
Ellis Park responded to Brazil’s third with Mexican waves. They knew it was all over. Brazil’s well-knit unit are fast becoming ruthless and a sixth title is only three matches away.