Brazil leave a nation needing therapy and almost bring down a plane

Brazil leave a nation needing therapy and almost bring down a plane as nervous hosts scrape past Chile on penalties at World Cup

• Brazil defeated Chile on penalties to move into the World Cup quarter-finals
• David Luiz claimed the opening goal for the World Cup hosts
  
• Barcelona winger Alex Sanchez equalised for Chile in the first-half
• Game ended 1-1 after extra-time to move into penalties, which Brazil won 3-2 with Neymar scoring their final spot-kick
  

By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:55 EDT, 28 June 2014 | Updated: 06:28 EDT, 29 June 2014

Only at this World Cup could a goal almost bring down an aircraft.

Only here, in Brazil, could a pilot be ordering his passengers to stop celebrating.

They have been broadcasting matches live on flights these past few weeks and one English reporter informed us how the aircraft he was aboard on Saturday began to ‘wobble’ when David Luiz opened the scoring in this extraordinary encounter.

The pilot, said our reporter, was more than a little concerned, barking at them all to sit down.

One only hopes he had landed the plane before Gonzalo Jara’s penalty bounced off a post because if it was anything like the Estadio Mineirao there’s a chance the windows would have blown.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch reporter Jhendelyn Nunez flash Chile bra when Sanchez scored

It was astonishing.

The ear-splitting noise and this sense of nerve-shredding, blessed relief. The sight of Luiz Gustavo praying in the centre-circle during those agonising moments between the end of extra time and the shoot-out. The sight of Julio Cesar in tears before a penalty had even been kicked. 

A goalkeeper from Queens Park Rangers but currently on loan at Toronto airport taxi dedicated his man of the match award to ‘the 200million people of Brazil’.

But those 200million Brazilians are going to need therapy before the end of this World Cup.

It might have been Luiz Felipe Scolari and his squad who admitted to suffering from anxiety attacks. Just as it might have been Thiago Silva who said that, were it not for Scolari holding them all together, the players would have cracked up already.

But the people Scolari and his players speak of in almost every address they make may not be able to take much more.

From the taxi drivers to those fortunate enough to have a match ticket, they can’t dare to dream because they remain gripped by a collective fear of failure.

By the idea that a tournament that has so far exceeded all our expectations might just continue without them. That Neymar, their darling Neymar, might be reduced to nothing more than a spectator while Lionel Messi, heaven forbid, takes centre stage.

Greg Dyke was right.
When you travel through the host cities before a game people do seem to be carrying on with their everyday lives.

But when Brazil play the country undergoes a staggering transformation. The roads empty, even in Sao Paulo.

On one journey from this ground to Belo Horizonte’s airport it was like having a private motorway.

For those inside this marvellous stadium an outstanding game of football dragged them through a full spectrum of emotions.
The ecstasy of Luiz’s goal; the sense of despair when Hulk made the mistake that enabled the brilliant Alexis Sanchez to equalise; never mind the anger at Webb’s controversial yet courageous decision to disallow Hulk’s goal and give him a yellow card for handball.

It certainly blew a rather large hole in Chile’s theory about favouritism.

Nothing, however, compared to deafening noise when Neymar was elevated to the position of match winner.

What made it all the more uncomfortable for Brazil for the 120 minutes prior to that was the quality of this Chile side. A side that boasts an impressive combination of style, sophistication and hard graft.

Extra time simply meant another 30 minutes of agony.
The terrifying prospect of penalties too. On Brazilian television the commentators were said to be capturing the mood. They were expressing the view, in the most sombre, pessimistic tones, that Chile were growing in stature throughout the second half; growing in the belief that the biggest scalp of all was here for the taking.

The supporters here responded.

‘I believe,’ they cried, as much in desperation as anything as the match moved towards the lottery of spot-kicks.

When Mauricio Pinilla hit the crossbar, mouths opened and hearts stopped.

When Luiz then ran at the ball like a long jumper and almost burst the net with his shot, the place erupted.

But Willian’s miss, indeed Hulk’s miss, would only add to the agony, ageing a nation by years in a matter of minutes.

‘I hope we don’t have any more penalty shoot-outs going forward because I fear my friends and family will have heart attacks,’ said Julio Cesar.

Not to mention 200million others.