It was Yellow Vs Red – it was the
sea of Yellow in the stadium – in the biggest sports event being held in Brazil
- making ‘Yellow’ the global flavour – in India as well - Brazil were unbeaten
against Chile at home so far – and they remained unbeaten – the ‘Yellow’ crowd was
humming loud – as heard and visible on my TV set.
Brazil Vs Chile – the first match
of the ‘Round of 16’ of the FIFA World Cup 2014 was overall a quality World Cup
game of 127 minutes – (45+1+45+3+15+1+15+2) – obviously excluding the minutes
of the Penalty Shootout.
Brazilian attack and Chilean
defense were at par. In fact, if we see the match as the World Cup enthusiasts
(that I am) and not as die-hard Football fans, it was a dramatic game where Chile bettered their game beating expectations
while Brazil were not what a
Brazil ’s
fan expects from the team.
But then the outcome of the game
is also day-dependent some times and it was one of those days and we can give Brazil the
benefit of doubt. And we need to see it in the context of the brilliant Chilean
defense and their game, especially in the second half, that frustrated every
move of Brazil ,
including some very close ones.
The first half was good for Brazil with
first goal, though not a brilliant one, coming early in 18th minute.
Though Brazil kept their
game up, outshining Chile
but the Chile
equalizer was a brilliant goal by Alexis Sanchez in 33rd minute.
Then it was for the sluggish
moments of the second half. Whether it was tactical or temperamental cannot be
said, but the game slowed down painfully. Brazil ’s show came down. Chile picked up, until Brazil started mounting up the pressure
that begin after 70 minutes and sped up post 80 minutes.
And it can be said the sluggish
moments were compensated well in the last when the 1-1 tie pushed the game to
the extra time (ET) that also failed to produce any result after 33 minutes of
the game (15+1+15+2).
And now it was time for the
Penalty Shootout – requiring steely nerves, and luck of the day as well.
A Penalty Shootout is always a
sad end to a great Football match, and especially in this case, where Chile played
much better than expectations, it hurt. In spite of the elevated game, where
they were equal claimants of the victory based on the show of 127 minutes, Chile were
knocked out 3-2.
The Brazilian goalkeeper, Julio
Cesar, emerged as the winning player for the country though he saved two goals,
same as the Chilean goalkeeper. The last kick by Jara hit the post and Brazil won.
So, now, the yellow is to spread
- and the humming is to get louder when Brazil
play their next match - world's favourites advance to the next round - but Chile deserved that as well.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com
