After the spellbinding group stage the FIFA World Cup now enters knockout stages and to kick off Round of 16 hosts Brazil will clash against Chile. Chileans were instrumental in eliminating the defending champions Spain and their confidence will be sky high for the Saturday night’s fixture while Brazil who have dominated South American rival in the past will hope for yet another clinical performance to see themselves through to quarter-finals.
Both Brazil and Chile will take the field with an obvious aim to march into the next round and move a step closer towards the glory. The game promises to be a dazzler and to spice up the things here we are with some facts.
1)Hosts Brazil have been impressive when it comes to second-round at the World Cup, winning their last five games and have scored 13 times.Last time they failed to win a second-round fixture in the World Cup was way back in 1990.
2)Chile have lost all four of their World Cup matches against fellow South American opposition, three of those defeats came against Brazil in the knockout stages of the tournament. Semi-final in 1962 and in round 2 in 1998 and 2010.
3)Brazil enjoys home support so much that they have not lost any of their previous 40 matches in front of the home crowd and against Chile they maintain 20 wins and six draws in their backyard.
4)Brazil’s dominance is quite visible against South American opponents in World Cup as they have lost only once out of last 10 matches, taking home eight wins and drawing one.
5)Chile have struggled to win their last two second-round games at the World Cup and incidentally and unfortunately for their fans both the defeats have come against Brazil.
6)This surely is the best run for Chileans in the World Cup and they have developed a habit of striking before the half-time throughout this tournament. Four of their five goals in three matches have come during the first 45 minutes while one in the 90th minute.
7)Coming into the knockout stages Brazil’s four players have been shown yellow card, including super striker Neymar and skipper Thiago Silva.
Head to head these two sides have met 68 times, Brazil clearly leads with colossal 48 wins while Chile have just managed to win seven games and 13 have resulted in a draw.
0 comments:
Post a Comment