Brazil win penalty shoot-out

Having survived the Group of Death with the Netherlands and Spain, Chile had become a popular dark horse candidate to knock off hosts Brazil. But the Selecao came out with all guns blazing, as if to show La Roja that any hopes of an upset would be in vain.

Brazil had been criticized for lack of team cohesion and strategy, but Brazil's forwards - Neymar, Hulk and Fred - were consistently able to get in behind Chile's central back three. The Selecao mixed up long and short passes as well and had their opponents reeling in Belo Horizonte.

The scoring commenced, however, with a set play in the 18th minute. Neymar curled in a free kick, which was headed on by Thiago Silva, and Gonzalo Jara scored an own goal. There was little Jara could do - David Luiz was lurking behind him in point-blank range, and was initially credited with putting the hosts ahead.

Brazil continued to generate chances, but it was La Roja equalizing in the 32nd minute. Hulk lost the ball on a throw-in, and Alexis Sanchez was on hand to whip the ball past Julio Cesar. The goal came out of nowhere, but reminded everyone in the Estadio Mineiro that Chile can be a dangerously efficient opponent.

In the second half, Chile corrected their defensive spacing and converted their slight advantage in possession into a plus in opportunities. In the 55th minute, Brazil's Hulk did succeed in bashing the ball into the net, but he was ruled to have handled the ball intentionally, receiving a yellow card instead of getting his name on the score sheet.

Ten minutes later Arturo Vidal stopped hearts all over the host nation with a hard shot, but Cesar parried brilliantly. Brazil finally started getting the ball to Neymar again near the end of regular time, and Hulk drew a great save from Claudio Bravo, newly signed by Barcelona as competition to Germany's Marc-Andre ter Stegen. But the 90 minutes ended with the score still knotted 1-1.

The match was anything but technically or tactically perfect, but no one could accuse either team of a lack of passion.

The 30 minutes of extra time were largely devoid of chances, as tired legs produced lots of long balls and heavy first touches. Mauricio Pinilla almost sealed a sensation in the dying minutes, but his rocket was millimeters too high and rebounded off the crossbar.

The match came down to penalties, and after four spot kicks apiece, it stood 2-2. Neymar stepped up, shimmied and juked Bravo. Jara bravely had a go as well, but hit the inside of the post. The ball rebounded just before the line. Brazil go through to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 win on penalties and spare the host country a national athletic trauma.

Chile head home, knowing that they were ever so close to making history.