FIFA World Cup 2010 – Brazil vs. Chile, South American Battle for Quarter Final berth
The South Americans have been relatively stronger than the Europeans in the FIFA 2010 World Cup. All the South American sides qualified for the Round of 16, when it came to qualifying from the group stages. The South American team, Uruguay, was the first team to qualify for the Quarter Finals as they defeated South Korea in their last game, in the knockout stages. This year, six South American teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup and all six of them played amazingly well and either topped their group or finished second so they could qualify for the next round.
The six teams include the World number one, Brazil and the very impressive Diego Maradona’s side Argentina, along with Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. All these teams had an amazing run in the group stages and are looking forward to qualify for the quarter finals. Although, the Mexicans have already left Africa because of suffering a defeat against Argentina, the question today is whether Chile can overcome the odds and send the Brazilians back to South America and qualify for the quarter finals? Today is the day when Chile has to take a stand against Brazilian domination, and let’s see which of the South American teams is going to be knocked out of the World Cup.
For now, the Brazilians have faced tough competition as they were in the “group of death” of this FIFA World Cup 2010. However the reason why it was called the group of death was because of the Brazilian nation itself. Their group included Portugal, a very strong side which scored seven goals against the Koreans; and Ivory Coast, the best team in Africa; and the least favourites of the group Korea DPR who were humiliated towards the end of the tournament.
The Brazilians had a positive start towards the tournament as they were set to go face-to-face with the Koreans. They defeated them by a one goal margin with the final score line 2-1. An amazing goal from Maicon from an unusual angle, and a pass by Robinho, which was converted into a goal by Elano was enough for the Brazilians to take the three points they deserved. Their second match was against the African side Ivory Coast, who they defeated easily although the match resulted in Kaka being sent off as he committed a minor foul and got the second yellow card of the match. The final score line was 3-1 to the advantage of the Brazilians. A shot from Fabiano after a wonderful pass from Kaka was enough to show the African Elephants, what the South Americans have in store for 2010’s World Cup. The Brazilian Coach Dunga, although being criticized for the side he had chosen, continued to impress after his second match as Brazil got the three points they needed to confirm their qualification in the second round. Their last match was against the Portuguese, who showed the world what they were made of. Their famous captain, Cristiano Ronaldo impressed football fans once again with his amazing ability to dribble the ball but the man of the match for the European side was undoubtedly their number one keeper, Eduardo. He made marvellous saves and denied Brazilian strikers on many occasions. The match ended in a goalless draw and both the sides qualified for the next stage.
On the other hand, the other South American side, Chile, had to face an unexpected tough group. Their group had the European Champions Spain, along with Switzerland, who have an amazing defence record of more than five hundred and fifty minutes of conceding no goals. The third team they had to face was Honduras, who were the underdogs of the group. Chile’s first match was against the underdogs Honduras. They won the match easily by scoring a single goal and defending it confidently while moving the ball around. Their next match was against a far more superior defensive side, Switzerland, who had beaten Spain a week earlier and made a huge mark in the group. Chile went on to beat them with the help of a red card to Swiss midfielder, Valon Behrami. The Swiss, however, did not give up and kept on defending perfectly, until the Chileans finally found a gap in the defence and a header helped them secure a win against the Swiss.
Chile is the third South American side to impress the fans and was on an all-win run until they met Spain. The match was filled with excitement as the Spaniards would go out of the World Cup if they lost the match. However, Spain managed to seal the win with an outstanding performance by two Barcelona stars David Villa and Iniesta. Chile, though, lost the match, but they still managed to qualify for the next round as they finished second in their group and are now going to face the mighty South American side Brazil.
Although, Chile has almost no chance to make it through to the quarter finals, we have seen so many upsets, and it seems anything can happen. The Brazilians are on the road to win their sixth FIFA World Cup and improve their World Record of having the glory five times while the Chile side have not won the World Cup even once. Can they pull it off this year? Let’s wait and see.
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