Despite the flashy names that Brazil has in its squad, Chile has given them the hardest times, last Saturday, in the kickoff match of the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. The red team dominated the game against all predictions that went in favour of the Samba dancers. However, David Luiz opened the score for Brazil in the 18th minute. It was the first international goal for the new Paris Saint-Germain defender. Showing a strong personality, the Chilean team fought to get back in the game. Fourteen minutes after the Brazilian opener, Chile succeeded to reach its aim and score the equaliser by Barcelona's striker, Alexis Sanchez. The draw remained until the end of the official match time, forcing the two teams to play an extra time. Among the scoring chances that came in the extra thirty minutes, it was Perea's shot for Chile that hit the bar, just seconds before the end of the second half of extra time, which will remain in the memories of all Chileans and Brazilians for a long time to come. Brazil, the host of the World Cup, were about to face the same fate they faced 64 years ago against Uruguay, when they lost the final of the World Cup, when they were hosting in the famous Maracanã Stadium. Brazilians still talk about this incident till today remembering it as the ultimate upset they have ever had in their history. As Brazil survived the last minute strike, the two Latin teams went to a penalty shootout to decide the winner. The tough times were not yet over for the Yellow fans. It was a great start for the 5-time World Cup winners as Luiz scored the first penalty for Brazil, which was followed by a missed penalty by Chile's Mauricio Pinilla. With the advantage 1-0 in the penalty shootouts, Willian was up to widen the score for the Brazilians. Not the case though, Willian missed his penalty, as Chilean star Sanchez walked to the penalty spot to take the second penalty. It was a definite equaliser, as it thought to be, but despite being the classy footballer Sanchez is, he missed his penalty, adding more drama to the game. Brazil's left back, Marcelo, did not miss the chance afterwards to score the third penalty for his country. Chile's Charles Aránguiz followed by putting the ball in Julio Cesar's net. It came to Hulk to pave the way to a Brazilian victory; however, Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had another opinion regarding that, saving the ball of the left-footer. Brazil got back again in the dilemma, when Marcelo Diaz scored for Chile in the following penalty, equalising the score 2-2. Next up for Brazil was its superstar Neymar, who did not disappoint and put the ball calmly into Bravo's net. Could Gonzalo Jara maintain Chile's chances in the game? He could not as his shot went strong to hit the right post, announcing a tough qualification for the hosting country to the quarterfinals. In the second match that evening, Colombia made history qualifying to the quarterfinals after beating two-time World Cup winners and the bronze medal winner of the last World Cup, Uruguay. Despite the absence of their star striker, Falcao, Colombia has proven how strong its team is throughout the group stage of the World Cup and it was not any different when they faced the light blue Latin team of Uruguay in the round of 16. The new raising Colombian star, James Rodríguez, led his country to victory scoring two goals to end the game with a win 2-0. Uruguay, on the other hand, were left high and dry suffering from the absence of their lethal striker, Luis Suarez, after being banned for “biting” Italian defender, Giorgio Chiellini, during their match in the group stage. How far can Holland go in this World Cup? A question that was repeatedly asked during the group stage period, after the Oranges humiliated the World Cup holders, Spain, 5-1, and then won in their following two matches to finish on top of its group with full points. They were about to get ahead, but not in the World Cup, far away from their homes in Holland, as they remained behind in the score 0-1 against Mexico until the 88th minute of their round of 16 match. Thanks to Wesley Sneijder's equaliser, Holland got another chance to fight for qualification. Rafael Marquez, Mexico's captain and defender, wasted all his team's amazing performance in the game and the whole tournament, when he tackled Arjen Robben inside the box during the additional time. The referee whistled a penalty that was converted into the net by the substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Holland has shown that they got a champion's spirit equalising and winning in just four minutes, but the last match shows that they need some tactical improvement. Costa Rica, the Mundial's biggest surprise, continued, on the other hand, it's unbelievable quest, after beating both England and Italy in the group stage, adding another European team to its list of victims, eliminating Greece from the round of 16. The two teams, which were believed to take their flight home earlier in the World Cup, beat the odds and qualified to the second round. Their game was a defensive tactical game, which reflected the similarity in their styles of play. Costa Rica scored the opener through Bryan Ruiz after 52 minutes, and as it looked like the match will end with that goal, Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored the equaliser for Greece in the game's last minute. The draw continued in the extra time as the two teams went to a penalty shootout. Costa Rica proved its quality ending the shootout with a victory 5-3. The third day of the second round was all about the African teams going head to head with the giants of Europe. The pride of European football, which was not very successful in the ongoing World Cup, was faced by the African ambition of the two greens, Nigeria and Algeria. France faced Ahmed Musa and his teammates in the first match of the day. \ Nigeria gave in a strong fight but ended up losing 2-0. Just the same way, Algeria fought hard against the German Mannschaft, taking their game to extra time, but their fitness could not hold out, as they received two goals in extra time. The Arab's representative succeeded to score a goal, but nevertheless left the World Cup with a its head held high. The writer is a freelance journalist.
