James – Ex Cops
Brazil 1 – 1 Chile (Brazil win 3-2 on penalties)
What a fantastic game, and a great way to start the knockout round. The skill on the ball wasn’t always perfect, and both sides could very easily have created more goals, but the pace of play was out of this world. Both sides applied enormous pressure, meaning that the game covered every inch of the pitch and was constantly moving. Well, except for all of the people lying on the ground writhing in agony until they suddenly got better.
In the end Brazil advanced, but they came dangerously, excruciatingly close to going out. This was probably their best performance yet, though honestly that isn’t saying all that much. They were the better team today, but not that much better. Their attack remains quite limited, thanks in large part to the uselessness of their center forwards and the inconsistencies of their playmakers. Neymar showed off in patches today but mostly only in quick counter-attacks. There wasn’t a lot of good buildup from him. Oscar was pretty anonymous, then would pop up with a beautiful long diagonal pass, and then would disappear again for long stretches. Hulk had his best game yet, with a couple brilliant runs and powerful shots, as well as a goal that was (correctly, but only just) ruled out for handball. The problem is that their success mostly depended on one individual doing something excellent – there wasn’t much fluidity in the team.
In part, I think, that’s because Chile are just SO impossible to play against. They press so tightly and are so excellent at pushing you off the ball, that it’s almost pointless to try and build through the center against them. Which meant that Brazil was often trying to work around the defense rather than cutting through it.
For their part, Chile did what they needed to do. They didn’t have as many good chances as Brazil, but they made the most of the ones they got. Strangely, sort of like Brazil, most of their best attacks didn’t come from good movement in possession but instead came from pouncing on mistakes. The goal, for example, emerged almost out of nowhere. They nicked a weak tap-back by Hulk off a throw-in, and then suddenly the ball was in the back of the net.
The last 75 minutes of this game looked a lot like the second half of Spain-Chile, with Chile holding out against a probing attack, riding their luck a bit, and mostly succeeding because the more-favored opposition couldn’t quite put everything together. But then, with just a minute left, again out of almost nothing, they had the ball at the top of the Brazil box and fired a shot that rattled the crossbar and left millions of hearts in throats. A few inches lower and Chile would be readying to play Colombia now.
Sadly, it was not to be. It went to penalties, and Brazil just eked it out. It’s worth noting that Cesar was really coming off his line for his saves. Which technically isn’t allowed, though it’s basically never called. But his jumps were particularly egregious. Sill, he made the saves and got away with it, so good for him.
Final thought: Howard Webb (who famously cocked up refereeing the final four years ago) did a really excellent job. He made a number of tough calls – including disallowing Hulk’s goal – and pretty much got them all right. And while this game was very intense and very aggressive, he managed to keep it from escalating out of control (the thing he failed to do with the Netherlands-Spain game). Good for him.
Colombia 2 – 0 Uruguay
I’ve got a lot less to say about this one. The difference was basically James Rodriguez, who scored a wonder goal and tapped in another. Other than that, I can’t say Colombia particularly controlled this game. Despite the scoreline, this was probably the least impressive game they’ve played. Still, they held the lead the whole way and seemed quite comfortable letting Uruguay probe at them. So I’m sure they could have amped their attack back up if necessary. Uruguay desperately missed Suarez, who very likely would have converted one or more of the decent chances they put together and also likely would have added quite a bit more guile and incisiveness to their attack
You’ll notice that I resisted making any puns about biting there. I think I deserve a reward for that.
Anyways, these two teams will be playing in the quarterfinals. 538 continues to insist that Brazil is far-and-away the best team in the world, making them 80% favorites to go through. I (and the bookies) are far less skeptical. Brazil should be the favorites for that match, but Colombia could give them a great deal of trouble at the back. And if they can’t resolve their problems with fluency in the attack, their victory today may have only staved off elimination by a little bit. We will have to see…