It wasn’t as easy as it was supposed to be, but Group A favorites Brazil advanced to the Round of 16 as the group’s winners after destroying Cameroon 4-1 in their final group stage match – just enough to keep them ahead of Central American challengers Mexico via goal differential.
The Brazilians have lived and died on the play of wunderkind striker Neymar, who has a ridiculous four goals in three games. Chile, in the meantime, has fought its way past much tougher competition to arrive at this point of the World Cup on the basis of their quality team play and offensive execution.
Amidst a tournament dominated by South American teams, which of these two soccer-mad nations will progress to the quarterfinals? Read on for everything you need to know to bet on this huge game, and check out our complete preview of the Mexico vs. Netherlands game between the other two teams from Group A and Group B.
[sc:Soccer ]Brazil vs. Chile, World Cup 2014, Round of 16 Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
When: Saturday, June 29, 2014, 12:00PM ET
Line: Brazil -165 vs. Chile +371, tie +262; total 2.5 – view World Cup lines
Betting on Chile
The rude boys of Group B are onto the elimination phase of the 2014 World Cup, and are now just one win away from their best finish ever at a World Cup Finals. After qualifying third out of the hyper-competitive CONMEBOL region–which also includes Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay–La Roja have made a name for themselves in the group stage, led by Barcelona’s Alexis Sánchez.
Despite finishing as the runner’s up in Group B, the Chileans have everything to be proud of about their play in the group stage. The stalwart team dispensed easily with Australia 3-1, before beating the best international side of the last decade 2-0. And while their game against Holland ended 2-0, it was a closer match than the scoreline showed, as the Chileans hit posts, found openings, and generally looked dangerous almost as often as the Dutch.
Unfortunately for Chile, they have come up against one of their most hated (and dominant) rivals in the tournament favorites Brazil. In 15 matches against their fellow South Americans, Chile has won just once and drawn twice while losing 13 times, allowing 2.81 goals per game.
More recently though, Chile has shown they can compete with the hosts of this year’s World Cup. In 2013, they drew the Brazilians 2-2, and lost another friendly 2-1. Furthermore, their consistent, opportunistic attacking may match up well against the Brazilians, who have shown they can be shutdown.
Chile will want to follow the mold Mexico established against Brazil, who locked down the ever-dangerous Neymar while getting their chances when they presented themselves. And let’s be clear: there is no shutting down Neymar completely. Chilean captain and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will need to be in fine form to contain the Brazilians, but if he is, anything is possible.
Betting on Brazil
A Seleção got the result they were looking for in Group A, topping the bunch, but their play lacked the consistent excellence that their home country fans were looking for.
At the front of their formation, Neymar continues to impress, creating chances throughout all three games the blue and yellow have played, and finishing four goals beautifully. By comparison, German Thomas Muller won the Golden Boot for more goals at the 2010 cup with five, just one more than Neymar has through three games.
Beyond Neymar, however, questions abound for the Brazilians, whose toughest test came against Mexico, who themselves barely qualified for the tournament. Banner carriers like Oscar and Fred have delivered patchy-at-best performances, with flashes of brilliance mixed in with misfires, poor passes, and dives, dives, and dives.
Despite finding their form against lowly Cameroon, this Brazilian side will need to play to their potential and history if they hope to beat Chile, particularly on the defensive side. Balls crossed on the Brazilian defense have been often-shakily sent away, and defender Dani Alvez (2 goals, 3 assists in 27 La Liga games this season) has looked especially overmatched at times, even as Brazil has yet to come up against a world-class attack.
Writer’s Prediction
Chile shuts down Neymar for the half but can’t make it stick beyond 90 minutes, losing in extra time. Take Brazil and the under in this one.
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