Brazil were defeated in their opening World Cup qualifier for the first time ever in Santiago last night. In an evenly contested match, Brazil fell to late goals from Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sanchez.
The Seleção enjoyed some bright spells in the game and tactically, it was clear that Dunga had identified some of Chile’s weaknesses, but shorn of Neymar, they lacked the cutting edge to capitalise on their game plan.
Brazil enjoyed a positive opening period, with wide men Willian and Douglas Costa given clear instructions to attack La Roja from the flanks. Sampaoli was concerned enough to change his tactics, in the 40th minute, he replaced Fransisco Silva with Mark Gonzalez, switching to a back four in the process. The alteration certainly reduced the influence of Willian and particularly Douglas Costa. Dunga’s side were left to count the cost of an unctuous pitch, as David Luiz’s knee buckled on the turf, meaning he had to be replaced by clubmate Marquinhos during the first half. Brazil maintained their counter attacking threat, but whilst they had most of the ball, Chile created the best chances throughout.
Alexis Sanchez’s improvised spinning shot from the edge of the area smacked the outside of Jefferson’s post on 42 minutes. In the second half, Brazil looked very dangerous on the break. But too often, Hulk cut an isolated figure, or else a lumbering touch from Oscar, who endured a torrid evening, brought promising moves spluttering to a halt. With Hulk unable to get into the game and Oscar out of sorts, Dunga turned to Santos pair Ricardo Oliveira and Lucas Lima to try and turn the tide and give Brazil the spark their approach warranted.
That said, Chile were left to rue the intervention of the woodwork again in the second period, as Mauricio Isla cut across the ball from the corner of the penalty area, sending a devilishly spinning volley towards goal. Again, Jefferson was spared by his right hand post. The game was on something of a knife edge in the final twenty minutes, but it was the home side that drew first blood. Matias Fernandez’s sweeping free kick from the right wing was deftly turned beyond the floundering Jefferson by Eduardo Vargas. The Chilean just turned his boot cutely as the ball flashed across goal. Botafogo keeper Jefferson will not look back fondly upon the replays, which suggest that his reactions were not keen enough.
Ricardo Oliveira threw himself at Willian’s low cross, missing it by inches as the away team searched for an equaliser. But Brazil struggled to turn the screw and Alexis Sánchez made the result safe in the 88th minute. He beavered his way past Miranda, benefitting from a felicitous ricochet as he did. The ball fell to Arturo Vidal on the right, allowing Alexis to continue his run into the six yard area. Vidal squared and Alexis’ first attempt was blocked on the line by Miranda, but the Arsenal man stabbed the ball home at the second time of asking. This was only Chile’s 8th victory over the Seleção.
When this fixture was played ten years ago, Adriano, backed up by a cast that included Ronaldo, Robinho and Kaká, scored a hat trick in a 5-0 victory. The gulf in the attacking talent in 2005 compared to 2015 scarcely requires comment. Chile have forged a golden generation in that interval, meaning these teams have moved lurched towards one another in terms of quality. Needless to say, Brazil struggled to conjure a sustained threat without Neymar. Due to sponsorship pressures, the captain plays pretty much every minute of every friendly and his fitness record is very good. Brazil simply do not have a contingency for his absence having failed to experiment significantly in their global friendly tour leading up to the 2014 World Cup.
Dunga tumbled the dice on Hulk- in the international wilderness for over a year prior to Neymar’s suspension- and Ricardo Oliveira, a 35 year old with a pregnant 8 year pause between caps, which emphasises the paucity of forward options at Dunga’s disposal. Brazil take on Venezuela in Fortaleza on Tuesday evening and they will be under pressure to perform and take 3 points in front of their own supporters. Having decided to go on a lucrative global roadshow in the build up to the World Cup, a distance has grown with the Brazilian public. Copa América warm up friendlies in São Paulo and Porto Alegre suffered low turnouts and in Porto Alegre especially, outright hostility was demonstrated by Brazilian fans that did show up. Dunga said on Wednesday that he could only gain the trust of the Brazilian public through victory and that is especially true against Venezuela. A win with style might expedite the process.
BRAZIL: 1.JEFFERSON, 15.DANI ALVES, 3.MIRANDA (c), 4.DAVID LUIZ (13.Marquinhos ’36), 6.MARCELO, 17.LUIZ GUSTAVO (20.Lucas Lima ’82), 8.ELIAS, 11.OSCAR, 19.WILLIAN, 7.DOUGLAS COSTA, 21.HULK (9.Ricardo Oliveira ’77).