Brazil and Colombia formed the first quarterfinal pair of the 2014 World Cup, after defeating Chile and Uruguay respectively.

Brazil’s game in Belo Horizonte proved to be much tougher than the home fans had expected. Against a well-organized defensively and quickly counterattacking Chilean team, “Selecao” were pushed to the corner, and escaped on penalty kicks.

After an eventful first half, with goals from David Luiz in the 19^th minute and an equalizer from Chile’s Alexis Sanchez in the 32^nd, the match toned down considerably during the second half. In extra time, Chilean substitute Pinilla hit the crossbar from a long range shot.

Brazil’s luck followed them into the penalty shootout, which ended 3:2 with a shot in the post from Gonzalo Jara. Chile were left bitter, but have every reason to go out with high heads, after beating champions Spain in the group stage and putting up a brave fight against the Brazilians.

The tournament hosts will now expect another South American team, Colombia, in the quarterfinal. They will also go up against the World Cup’s top goalscorer so far – James Rodriguez, who netted twice to lead his team to a 2:0 victory over Uruguay. The first was a particularly beautiful strike from outside the penalty box, after a chest trap.

Uruguay, without the suspended Luis Suarez had nothing much to offer, as Colombia’s defense comfortably saw off their attempts to come back into the game, and reached their first ever quarterfinal at a World Cup.