vs. Location: Allianz Arena, São Paulo Brazil roster: Goleiros Alisson (Roma-ITA) Cássio (Corinthians) Ederson (Manchester City-ING) Laterais Daniel Alves (PSG-FRA) Danilo (Manchester City-ING) Filipe Luís (Atlético de Madri-ESP) Alex Sandro (Juventus-ITA) Zagueiros Marquinhos (PSG-FRA) Jemerson (Monaco-FRA) Miranda (Inter de Milão-ITA) Thiago Silva (PSG-FRA) Meio-campistas Arthur (Grêmio) Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk-UCR) Casemiro (Real Madrid-ESP) Fernandinho (Manchester City-ING) Paulinho (Barcelona-ESP) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool-ING) Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan-CHN) Willian (Chelsea-ING) Atacantes Diego Tardelli (Shandong Luneng-CHN) Neymar (PSG-FRA) Roberto Firmino (Liverpool-ING) Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City-ING) For the final contest of the current qualifying tournament, Brazil returns to home ground following its impressive offensive performance in the altitude of Bolivia, stopped only by an inspired goalkeeper. For Brazil, who qualified early in 2017, it is yet another opportunity to observe players and to enhance the cohesion of this team – a team which has earned so much praise and respect from both Brazilians and foreigners. Truly, barring an unforeseen catastrophe in Russia, Tite will go down in history for very quickly building a Seleção whose performance has resurrected faith in and passion for Brazilian soccer amidst fans who struggled to follow the squad following the last World Cup. Chile, the reigning two-time Copa América champion, has struggled in recent rounds, notably a 0-3 defeat vs. Paraguay and a 0-1 loss at Bolivia. But its dramatic 2-1 home win over Ecuador on the 17th Round of qualifying has kept it alive in the struggle to qualify. It remains to be seen whether Chile will go to Russia normally or whether it will have to face New Zealand, the Oceania winner for a playoff, as other CONMEBOL squads too have mathematical chances to finish in 5th place. Were Chile consigned to the latter fate, it would be a rather humbling turnout for the only team to have beaten Brazil in this qualifying competition, and for a team which impressively won 2 continental titles in a 365-day period. A Chilean failure to reach Russia would be not only embarrassing, but also signify the waste of Chile’s finest generation. The city of São Paulo has often been hostile to the national team, with paulistanos often booing the squad when the team has played poorly. But this time, with the team playing solid football and again a force to be reckoned with (as it has now defeated every single CONMEBOL NT other than Chile itself), all expectations are for a big party and celebration in the gorgeous and ultra-modern stadium which will host this match. A win for Brazil will seal a WCQ to remember and further solidfy Brazil’s position as one of the strongest candidates to win the 2018 World Cup, even though the tournament will be 8 months away. In Brazil’s favor are statistics which demonstrate that Chile has never managed to even draw Brazil at Brazil in WCQ (and which point to Brazil being unbeaten all-time at home in WCQ): 09/09/2009: 4-2 (Nilmar 3 goals, Júlio Baptista) 09/04/2005: 5-0 (Juan, Robinho, Adriano 3 goals) 10/07/2001: 2-0 (Edílson, Rivaldo) 09/03/1989: 2-0 (Careca – this is the notorious “rojão” match) 03/14/1954: 1-0 (Baltazar, whose name was actually Oswaldo da Silva)
I commend you Century for starting every match with a detailed oriented, well thought out and factual thread. You have no idea how much this helps us all. Excellent really. Keep up the good work. PRA FRENTE BRASIL !!!
Any non-Brazil fan probably thinks we will tank because the CBF is rotten and corrupt. Any Brazil fan who thinks we will tank this game has the blinders on thinking about the prospect of screwing Argentina out of the WC.
From that scenario, we know for sure us and Chile are going to Russia. I think, I'm not sure but Argentina is going to need a lot of help from Venezuela and I believe Colombia.
If these two results happen, the combination of results in the 3 other matches will determine which teams will finish between 4th and 7th places - but Argentina would be 6th or 7th.
I'd love to help the Argies, so that we can always remind them that we put them in a WC. I bet we could come up with a chant for that But they control their destiny and if they tie, as far as I know, they need 3 results to go their way or something like that. In other words, they need to win.
A few extra notes about Chile. - If they manage to tie the game, they should at least guarantee 5th place, because I don't see Paraguay making up a 7 goal difference. So expect them to play defensively and physical ... we all know they can play dirty. - Vidal is suspended. - Palmeiras "hated" son Valdivia comes back home ... he gave the assist for Chile's first goal vs Ecuador.
No way we tank but I'm sure we're gonna play with the foot off the pedal and some changes in the XI. And Chile is actually the only team to have beaten us in qualifying so I wouldn't scoff if they really did beat us.
Different Brazil, Chile was in form, we've never lost at home and most importantly ... we didn't have Paulinho !
I expect we'll win. And if we do, we could have 3 teams tied in 5th place, depending on tiebreakers to determine the playoff spot. Paraguay can leapfrog into qualification, leaving Argentina (if they tie), Chile (if they lose) and one of Colombia (loss) or Peru (tie) in 5th. Just goes to show how tough CONMEBOL can be.
I'm not sure that they play dirty like some of our other South American counterparts. Outside of the Jara incident and Medel with a little Felipe Melo in him, they aren't a dirty team.
No one thinks it's going to be a cakewalk. Chile is a tough team who won two continental competitions in a 1-year period and who made it to the final of the 2017 Confederations Cup, losing only to Germany. I personally expect a Brazilian victory, but Chile is not going to surrender the moment the initial whistle is blown. They will make us work and fight.
Interesting that Ederson is given the start wile the rest of the XI remains the same. I hope that means Allison isn't a lock for the GK spot. He has defintely improved and even shined in some of the Roma games I've seen so far this season but he was handed the #1 spot without any real competition or merit.