"Brazil was in a class of their own!", says iSporter Akshay Iyer as Brazil makes their way to the quarter-finals. Akshay shares his thoughts on the Brazil v Chile game. Find out more..
In the days leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Brazil's coach Dunga found himself under fire for excluding Ronaldinho and Alexandro Pato from his 23-man squad, but also for the change in tactics of the Samba Boys' game under his regime.
Dunga hasn't paid much heed to the criticisms that have come his way and instead has focussed his energies on ensuring the 23 players chosen for football's showpiece event in South Africa are geared up to bring home Brazil's sixth World Cup title. In the group stages, Brazil sounded out a warning to the other World Cup challengers as the five-time champions edged out North Korera and thrashed Cote d'Ivoire before playing out a goalless draw against Portugal.
In the round of 16, Brazil squared up against Chile on Monday night in Johannesburg's Ellis Park. Chile had won many fans in South Africa and around the world through their impressive performance in the group stage.
The attacking and eye-catching display by the Chilean team would also have ensured that the Dunga's team didn't think of them as pushovers. To their credit, for most of the first 34 minutes of the match, the Chilean defence was solid in denying any clear scoring opportunities to the Brazilians, while their midfielders and strikers were successful in making some early inroads in to Brazil's half.
Chile's captain and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo also did his best to keep his team in this part of the contest as he made a terrific save to keep out Gilberto Silva's fiercely struck drive from 25 yards.
During the first 34 minutes of the match, I was of the opinion the Chileans would hold out the Brazilians until the end of the first half, and this pre-quarter final contest could also head to extra time. But, with the Brazilians, it just takes a moment for a match to turn on its head, as the Chileans are quite aware.
The turning point in this match came in the 34th minute when Juan rose above the Chilean defence to meet Maicon's corner kick from the right flag and head the ball past Bravo. This strike shocked the Chileans and rejuvenated the Brazilians, and hardly had the players in Yellow and Blue finished celebrating Juan's goal that they had another reason to rejoice.
Barely four minutes after Juan scored; the trio of Robinho, Kaka and Luis Fabiano combined brilliantly to give Brazil a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute. This goal was a reminder of the damage the Brazilians can inflict on their opponents and the lead-up was started by Robinho's cross from the left to Kaka whose delightful first touch ensured all that Fabiano had to do was to skip around Bravo and slot the ball home. As with the first goal scored by the Brazilians, the Chilean defence was caught out yet again, and from this moment it would have taken something special for Chile to come back in the second half.
Chile's coach Marcelo Bielsa made two attacking substitutions bringing in Jorge Valdivia and Rodrigo Tello before the start of the second half. But, any slim hopes the Chileans had harboured of getting back were dashed by Robinho, who scored Brazil's third goal in the 59th minute, following a pass from Ramires, who has set up the goal after making a dashing run from the midfield.
The Chileans showed heart and tried to get back in the match in vain, as Brazil's captain Lucio and the rest of the Samba boys ensured there wouldn't be any drama in the remainder of the contest.
With the win, the Brazilians have set up a mouth-watering quarter-final match against Netherlands on Friday. The Dutch have so far won all their matches in South Africa and Brazil will need to be at their best to defeat the Netherlands. Brazil had fallen at this stage in the 2006 World Cup, and would not want a repeat this time around.
Dunga will have to factor in the loss of Ramires, who has been suspended for the match against Netherlands, after picking up his second yellow card. The Brazilian coach would also be hoping for a better performance from Robinho, who despite having a good match against Chile was also guilty of giving the ball away while in possession.
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