An all South American knockout clash is set on the cards as hosts Brazil take on a belligerent Chile side who can upset the odds against anyone if they are at their best. Jorge Sampaoli’s side will look to take advantage of the immense pressure on Brazil to fathom a major upset while the Selecao would be relying on Luis Felipe Scholari’s ideology before the crunch encounter. Going by records and past stats, Brazil is yet to lose to their South American counterparts in more than a decade, and has never lost to it on home soil. But this Chilean outfit had earlier knocked out Spain in the group stages and will now be looking to do the same to the hosts.
However a Neymar led Brazilian outfit would be quite tough to beat as Scholari mulls over his starting options. Today we here at Soccersuls in our special feature to the buildup of the thunderous clash, provide our readers with Brazil’s strongest eleven against the relentless Chilean outfit.
Goalkeeper:
Julio Cesar hasn’t been much troubled in the showpiece event and the former Champions League winner would be looking for a good show beneath the sticks in front of the vociferous home faithful. Cesar though will have to be wary of the significant Chilean threat in the final third as Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sanchez will be looking to take advantage of any slip up by the Brazilian defense. Cesar needs to make sure his distribution is inch perfect while he has to be sure coming out to collect balls from either wings.
Defenders:
Barcelona’s Dani Alves with his immense work rate will start on the right looking to barge forward and overlap his front man every time the home side looks to launch an attack. The same goes for Marcelo but the Real Madrid full back has to play close attention to Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez, who with his direct running can rip apart the entire opposition defense if offered any time and space on the ball. David Luiz too needs to make sure he doesn’t lose is markers like he did against Cameroon while Thiago Silva will again be the lynchpin for Scholari in the back four.
Midfielders:
Given Fernandinho’s lasting impact in the game against Cameroon, its time Scholari names the Manchester City player in his starting eleven alongside Wolfsburg central defensive midfielder Luis Gustavo, the latter who has been so far Brazil’s unsung hero in midfield. Hulk too hasn’t been in the best of form with Ramires being a possible option to replace the Zenit man on the wide right which would allow Oscar to play a free number ten role behind the lone striker. Neymar would be starting on the left and will look to dart inside with his decoy runs but is expected to always double teamed up by the opposition who like to play a spare man at the back in their modified 4-3-2-1 format.
Strikeforce:
With Fred firing blanks, Jo might get the nod up front completing Brazil’s lineup. The Selecao are expected to lineup in their 4-2-3-1 system but the immense work rate of all the midfielders effectively changes the shape to a non symmetrical 4-4-2.
