FIFA 2014 Round of 16 Predictions: Match #49 Brazil vs. Chile

Final Score

Brazil 3 Chile 2 (Penalty Shoot-out) Score after 120 Minutes: 1-1

Overview

Match number 49 is the first match of the knock-out stages. Just like the first match of the tournament, this match too involves Brazil which was one of the first teams to qualify for the "Round of 16." Chile finished second in Group B. Now the South American teams fight against each other to secure a berth in the quarter-finals.

Teams

Brazil: Brazil started the tournament as one of the top contenders to win the world cup. With massive home support and in-form players like Neymar, Brazil was expected to do wonders. However, things did not exactly happen as expected. Even though Brazil won against Croatia 3-1 in its first match, there were controversies regarding the referee's decision to give a penalty against the European country. Brazil's in-field performance was not as good as it was expected. In its next match, things became even worse for Brazil. Mexico was able to deny Brazil any scoring opportunity. The match ended in a goalless draw, raising questions about Brazil's ability to go ahead. Nevertheless, Brazil was able to answer the criticism with great intensity as it secured an emphatic 4-1 win against Cameroon. Neymar has already scored 4 goals, and he looks to score even more if Brazil stays in the competition. Fred, who had been suffering from a terrible form, managed to score too. Brazil seems to be finally getting back its rhythm.

Chile: This has been a dream run for Chile. Coach Jorge Sampaoli is extremely proud of his team for qualifying to the next round, and he's got every reason to take pride in Chile's performance. First, it was Australia. Chile tore Australia apart with a 3-1 victory. However, it had to face the current world champion Spain which had already been beaten by the Netherlands. Spain was expected to be back with a bang. Not many had hopes for Chile. Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aránguiz, however, had different plans. They scored against Spain in the first half itself and eventually won it 2-0. Chile was already in the next round when it played against the Netherlands which won the match and finished on top of the group. The present Chile team is clearly the best the country has produced in the last 50 years.

Head to Head

These two teams played 68 times against each other before. Brazil won 48, Chile 7, and the other 13 matches ended in a draw. A total number of 217 goals were scored. Brazil scored 159, Chile 58.

Key Players

Brazil: Neymar, Marcelo and Oscar

Chile: Arturo Vidal and Esteban Paredes

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 1 pm (local time) on June 28, which means it is 2 am on June 29 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.

Prediction

This will be a highly competitive match. It will be heartbreak for millions of Brazil fans all over the world. Chile will win it 3-2 and move to the quarter-finals.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au