David Luiz thunderbolt kick lifts Brazil against Colombia 2-1

 James Rodriguez (C) of Colombia is applauded by David Luiz (R) and Marcelo (L) of Brazil after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Quarter Final match between Brazil and Colombia at Estadio Castelao on July 4, 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. (Photo by Alex Livesey - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The Guardian 

Where to start? It was another epic thriller and the thought does occur that Brazil are in danger of wearing us all out if they continue scraping at everyone’s nerves this way. It is both enthralling and exhausting and now they must clear their heads and prepare to do it all over again. They are, to borrow the line from Luiz Felipe Scolari, two steps from heaven and they absolutely refuse to do it the straightforward way.

They had to survive some dreadfully fraught moments between James Rodríguez’s 80th-minute penalty and the final explosion of joy that told them they had reached the last four. Brazil had played in the first half in the way the world wants Brazil to play. They had to find other qualities in that tense, choppy finale and their methods – victory at any means, to put it bluntly – will not appeal to everyone, after a match that brought a tournament high of 54 fouls.

Yet there was a lot more good than bad in a thrilling contest and, ultimately, it will not be the noise of the referee’s whistle for which this occasion is remembered. It will be David Luíz’s victory run after the immense free-kick that proved to be the decisive goal. Or the relentless noise of the crowd. Or those emotional scenes after the final whistle when Rodríguez broke down in tears and David Luíz abandoned his own celebrations to comfort him, signalling for the crowd to acclaim the Colombian.

What a moment as well for Thiago Silva, scoring the opening goal after all the scrutiny surrounding his captaincy, and the debate in the Brazilian media about whether they wanted a captain who ignored penalty shootouts and cried so frequently. It ended as a bittersweet occasion for Silva, who will be suspended from Tuesday’s semi-final against Germany after a silly booking in the second half. Yet he had played brilliantly. Nobody can question Brazil’s competitive courage now. They looked like a side that had heard the criticisms of Careca and Cafu and various other former Seleção players and wanted to turn the volume down on them.

Occasionally it went too far. It was bizarre in the extreme that Fernandinho managed to evade a booking all night, and even more so that the Spanish referee, Carlos Carballo, did not produce a yellow card until the 64th minute. All the same, the Colombia manager, José Pekerman, made the point afterwards that it was the same for both sides. His team had flown into a few tackles of their own and after one of them, in which the defender Juan Zúñiga leapt knee-first into Neymar’s back with three minutes of normal time remaining, the Brazil forward was taken off on a stretcher. He has a broken vertebra and will play no further part in the tournament; Zuniga went unpunished.

So Brazil will go to Belo Horizonte on Tuesday with their captain suspended and their best player injured. What they do have is momentum and incredible will. David Luíz could be seen whipping up the crowd, hair bouncing, eyes boggling. The truth is the Estádio Castelão did not need encouraging. When everything was going well it was a shrieking, whistling pit of yellow bias. When Colombia had the ball, it was an anguished, plaintive howl. Put together, it made an exhilarating combination of colour and noise.

Brazil eliminated Chile on penalties 4-2

CNN.com

CNN) -- And so the carnival carries on.

Brazil, the team which manages to thrill and frustrate almost simultaneously, clinched its place in the quarterfinal of the World Cup following a tension-fueled encounter with Chile.

A 3-2 victory on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Belo Horizonte means Luiz Felipe Scolari's side's quest to win the World Cup on home soil remains alive.

It will now turn its attention to a last eight contest with Colombia -- a team which has thrilled so far in this tournament.

While Brazil will take the plaudits, Chile should be commended for a performance which at times defied the ability of the human body to run and hustle as its players did.

Having already scored an own-goal to gift Brazil a 19th minute lead, Gonzalo Jara was to be the fall guy at the death.

With Brazil leading the shootout 3-2, Jara needed to score to keep his country in the tournament.

As he stood, eyes firmly on the goal, two nations held their breath -- but only one broke out into ecstasy as the ball smashed against the post and rolled away to safety.

As those in red flopped to the ground, their bodies bruised and beaten, tears running down their faces, their opponents danced their way around the field, perhaps more out of relief than happiness.

Brazil, still haunted by its failure 64 years ago when it was beaten by Uruguay in the 1950 final, cannot afford anything but triumph.

Neymar double buries Cameroon

Sydney Morning Herald

Neymar scored a brilliant brace as Brazil beat Cameroon 4-1 on Monday to secure top spot in World Cup Group A and a last-16 tie against Chile.

The Barcelona forward scored the 100th goal of the tournament in Brazil's 100th World Cup finals match to put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute. He restored their lead before the interval after Joel Matip had equalised for Cameroon.

Fred got Brazil's third early in the second half with substitute Fernandinho adding a late fourth.

Brazil's win, combined with Mexico's 3-1 victory against Croatia in the other Group A game in Recife, ensured that they progress as group winners, ahead of Mexico on goal difference. Brazil were much stronger, but head into Saturday's game against Chile in Belo Horizonte knowing that they can still improve.

Cameroon were already out of the tournament after losing their opening two matches, but the Indomitable Lions had the advantage of playing without any pressure.

Volker Finke's men passed the ball confidently early on and Vincent Aboubakar gave the hosts something to think about with a shot that was blocked by Marcelo, but it was Brazil who took the lead.

The opening goal came as a huge release for Brazil and their fans in the crowd of over 69,000.

Neymar's coolly sidefooted into the far corner of the net first-time from a low Luiz Gustavo cross.

However, the goal owed as much to the industry and craft of Luiz Gustavo, who did superbly to rob possession from Benjamin Moukandjo on the left before delivering a pinpoint ball.

It was the first time in the tournament that Scolari's side had scored the first goal of a game, and both Neymar and Fred came close to increasing their advantage, the latter lunging desperately to connect with a Paulinho cross but unable to scramble the ball home.

Instead, Cameroon silenced the home fans when they drew level in the 26th minute. 

Allan Nyom got away from Dani Alves on the left and delivered a low ball that evaded Thiago Silva and David Luiz to give Matip the easiest of finishes. The Schalke player recorded Cameroon's first goal at this World Cup.

Brazil did not panic, and Neymar again intervened to restore their lead in the 34th minute.

When Nyom's headed clearance was returned by Marcelo, the Barcelona player collected possession and cut inside before sending in a low shot from the edge of the area that passed underneath Nicolas Nkoulou and went right through Charles Itandje in goal.

Scolari replaced Paulinho at the interval, sending on Fernandinho, and the Manchester City midfielder had an immediate impact, helping Brazil open up a two-goal cushion four minutes into the second period.

His pass released David Luiz on the left-hand edge of the area and the latter's centre was headed into a gaping goal from four yards by the grateful Fred, who scored his first goal of the finals.

The striker may just have been in an offside position when the cross came in, but the Swedish assistant referee did not raise his flag, much to Cameroon's frustration and Fred's relief.

Neymar was withdrawn for the closing stages and watched as Fernandinho poked home the fourth goal in the 84th minute, having combined superbly with Fred and Oscar after Cameroon lost possession in their own half.

AFP

Ochoa shines as Mexico shuts down Brazil 0-0

Bleacher Report 

Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa turned in a sparkling individual performance as Mexico held hosts Brazil to a scoreless draw in a thrilling World Cup Group A encounter Tuesday evening at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza.

The result leaves the teams tied atop Group A with four points each heading into the third and final round of group matches, though Brazil currently sit in first place by virtue of their superior plus-two goal differential.

For both sides, the draw means only one point is necessary in their final group match to ensure progress to the knockout stages. Brazil will play Cameroon on Monday in Brasilia, while Mexico take on Croatia, simultaneously.

The result also means the loser of Wednesday's match between Cameroon and Croatia, if there is one, is out of the tournament.

Ochoa made six saves, per @NBCSportsSoccer, including a world-class stop in the first half to deny Neymar and another in the closing moments to keep out Thiago Silva.

The goalkeeper is currently a free agent, and his performance is likely to attract numerous club sides ahead of the beginning of the European season later this year

The match got off to a lively start, with both teams eager to attack.

Brazil looked to have created a big chance in the 11th minute as Fred poked wide at the near post, but the striker had been ruled offside regardless. At the other end, Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar tipped Hector Herrera's rasping shot over the bar in the 24th minute. The referee failed to spot the touch, though, and awarded a goal-kick to the hosts.

Two minutes later, Brazil carved out the best chance yet. Dani Alves crossed from the right for Neymar at the back post, where the Barcelona star directed a well-placed header on target. The breakthrough goal seemed inevitable, but Ochoa pushed the ball away at full stretch to keep Mexico level.

Ochoa saved again, this time more comfortably, in the 35th minute from Fred's tame header following a corner by Neymar. Marcelo then shot off target from distance four minutes later, and Mexico's Jose Juan Vazquez sliced a dipping shot narrowly wide four minutes before half-time.

Brazil wins opener

SB Nation

Brazil just about got past Croatia in the opening game of the World Cup thanks to two goals from Neymar, but they required a highly dubious penalty to do so.

If opening games are anything to go by, then we could be in for a cracker of a World Cup. Brazil-Croatia had everything despite the eventual victory for the hosts, with Croatia taking a shock lead in an enthralling encounter before Neymar scored two goals to get his country into the lead, albeit with the aid of a highly debatable penalty, before Oscar rounded off the victory.

Brazil will be relieved to have gotten the win, but there will surely be questions asked of Luiz Felipe Scolari's side after they were extremely fortunate to do so. The hosts saw almost all of the ball, but they were caused major problems by a Croatia side that looked to play on the break and attacked in a very primitive fashion. Brazil will certainly need to improve if they are to have any hope of winning the tournament.

After initially looking utterly terrified during the anthems, Brazil started off on the front foot, but didn't have it all their own way. Croatia had already sent one warning signal earlier through Ivica Olic breaking down the left, and they came within an inch of scoring as Ivan Perisic's cross from the right found Olic, who headed wide when he really ought to have scored.

Brazil recovered from their nervy start to begin to pour forwards in attacking the Croatian goal, but the hosts struggled to make much of an impact. A couple of minutes later, the entire country was stunned. Olic once again got clear down the left and cut a low cross into the area, which eluded both Nikica Jelavic and the Brazil centre-backs, eventually being prodded across the line by Marcelo, who scored the first own-goal in Brazil's history, threatening a major upset and party-pooper in the process.

The shock seemed to jolt Brazil into life, however, and they soon swarmed forward in an all-out assault to find a goal back. First Oscar's cross only just evaded Hulk, before Paulinho forced Pletikosa into a fine save, but Croatia were extremely fortunate to survive when Neymar's attacking run left their defense strewn across the area. The ball fell to Oscar, who hammered in a left-footed shot from 25 yards, but Pletikosa, despite being unsighted, recovered to push it away and keep his side in front.

Neymar, perhaps showing signs of frustration, controversially ended up in the book shortly afterwards for clattering Luka Modric with his forearm, with the possibility of a red card only narrowly avoided. And perhaps predictably, a player some say should not have been on the pitch was the one responsible for finding a way through. The Barcelonaforward advanced through the centre and, with options left and right and defenders backing off, opted to go it alone. His shot from distance was somewhat scuffed, but still well-placed, and Pletikosa was too slow in getting across, allowing it to creep just past his outstretched arm and in off the base of the post, causing celebrations more of relief than jubilation around the stadium.