A tense 3-2 penalty victory over Chile sent the Selecao into the quarter finals of the 2014 world cup after an enthralling 120 minutes of action which ended 1-1.
The first Round of 16 game commenced at 16:00 GMT and pitted the two South American combatants against each other.
Brazil took first spot in Group A, and their reward was a game against the side they had knocked out at the same stage in their last two world cup meetings.
A David Luiz connection from a Thiago Silva flicked header from a corner had given Brazil the early lead, but Alexis Sanchez pulled Chile level in the 32nd minute after a sublime ball from Vargas split the Brazil defence for a cool finish from the Barcelona forward.
After all 120 minutes of action had been exhausted, Brazil won the penalty shootout after Jara struck his final spot kick hard against the post.
As is typical of South American sides, the game started at a brisk pace, with Brazil starting on the front foot and Chile relying on long balls from defence to catch Brazil on the break.
The game’s first glaring chance fell to left back Marcelo, whose shot narrowly whisked past the post of Claudio Bravo.
Chile’s impressive defending restricted Brazil to long shots and crosses into the box but new Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was in impressive form for Chile.
The pace of the game meant players often went to ground under little challenges, and this led to both sides entreating for penalties, but both appeals were waved away by referee Howard Webb after Sanchez and Hulk both went to ground in the other side’s penalty area.
As always Brazil’s most creative outlet, Neymar went on a good run into the Chilean area in the 16th minute, but after beating one man he delayed just a little too long for the ball to be cleared.
It didn’t matter though, as two minutes later Brazil had taken the lead. Neymar’s corner is flicked on by skipper Thiago Silva, with David Luiz beating a Chilean defender to the tap in at the far post.
Brazil did not let up after the goal, creating several chances with Neymar still the most likely to score. His burst down the left flank in the 25th minute should have led to a goal, but the final shot with his left foot was extremely poor. Predictably, Brazil was made to rue those misses after Chile equalised in the 32nd minute.
Hulk’s first touch from a Marcelo throw in was poor, and Vargas intercepted and sent in a diagonal through ball to Sanchez in the box, whose low shot sped past the despairing dive of Julio Cesar.
Brazil responded almost immediately, but Neymar’s header off Oscar’s clever cross hit Medel and went just narrowly wide. They kept up the pressure, and Alves’ effort from long range was tipped over by Bravo as the first half trickled to a close.
The second half resumed in the same fashion, with Brazil fashioning out chances whilst Chile tried to hit them on the break whenever possible.
Despite lots of running from both sides, few chances was fashioned in the 2nd half, though Brazil thought they had taken the lead in the 55th minute but Hulk’s goal was disallowed for a seeming handball during the build up.
Luis Felipe Scholari made some changes, with Jo, Willian, and Ramires all being given a chance to make an impact but the second half fizzled down as energy levels began to drop.
Chile also threw on Cagliari forward Mauricio Pinilla to bring some energy into their attack, and Cesar was forced to make saves off Aranguiz and Sanchez to keep Brazil in the game.
On the other end Bravo remained in fine form as well, saving from Jo in the 70th minute and Hulk in the 84th.
The last ten minutes sped past as extra time began to look inevitable, and the extra 30 minutes changed little in the overall outlook of the game.
Jo missed a glaring chance in extra time, failing to meet a cross with the gaping goal at his mercy. On the other end Pinilla’s strike rattled the crossbar to sighs of relief all over the stadium.
The keenly contested game had to be settled on penalties, during which Julio Cesar made two saves and the final kick from Jara rattled off the post to send the entire stadium into raptures.
Neymar, Marcelo, and David Luiz scored Brazil’s three penalties, whilst Aranguiz and Marcelo Diaz scored Chile’s two.
Brazil awaits the winner of tonight’s game between Columbia and Uruguay in the quarter final clash.