Goals: Brazil—Silva 7’, Luiz 69’; James 80’ (penalty)
Recap: It took a chippy 90 minutes, but Brazil was able to move past Colombia 2-1 on Friday.
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A set-piece goal from captain Thiago Silva gave the host nation an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. David Luiz would double the advantage in the second half, emphatically driving home a direct free-kick. Just over 10 minutes later, Colombia pulled one back. James Rodriguez buried a rewarded penalty in the dying minutes of the match, but it wouldn’t prove to be enough.
Brazil advances to the semifinals of a World Cup for the first time since 2002.
Key Moment: Trailing by two goals, Colombia’s Carlos Bacca drew a foul inside the area. Goalkeeper Julio Cesar served as the last defender. Subsequently beaten on the dribble, Cesar opted for a sweeping tackle into Bacca’s knees. Referee Velasco Carballo, however, continued his cowardly officiating. Cesar saw yellow. He should’ve been given his marching orders instead. There’s no telling if Colombia would’ve been able to capitalize on the man advantage, but they should’ve been awarded the opportunity.
Man of the Match: Captain Thiago Silva will regret his boneheaded foul in the 64th minute. The 29-year-old will be forced to miss the semifinals due to yellow card accumulation. He did, however, finish tonight’s match with one goal and 14 effective clearances.
Lesson Learned: Home cooking is not a theory, it’s a proven practice. Brazil committed a staggering 31 fouls on Friday, hacking Colombia’s dynamic attackers out of their game. The official (Carballo) did nothing to protect them. Nearly 20 Brazilian fouls were committed before Silva was cautioned. It's difficult to produce build-up of any kind when the opposition is fouling away every two minutes. Couple that incompetent officiating with Cesar’s second chance—not to mention a gifted penalty in the World Cup opener against Croatia—and the evidence is there. No one wants to go down in history as the official that cost Brazil the 2014 World Cup.
Up Next: Brazil travels Belo Horizonte to face Germany on July 8, while Colombia returns home to prepare for the 2015 Copa America.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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