World Cup 2014 Brazil » Group B » Live commentary: Chile - Australia 3:1

Endgame Summary
The final whistle has blown, Chile wins 3-1! Although this is a result everyone expected, it doesn't accurately reflect the events on the pitch. La Roja was quite dominant at the beginning and deservedly scored two early goals in the first quarter hour. They could have even increased their lead furthermore since they had everything under control. At this point of the game, Australia didn't seem to have any chance of preventing a sure loss. But the Chileans did slowly lose concentration and this way allowed the Socceroos to score the 2-1 with ten minutes left before the halftime break. Since their goal the Australians became more active and continued to do so in the second half. They created several great opportunities but still weren't able to score again. Chile didn't find their way back to controlling the game but were rather lucky not to concede the equalizer. With 63:37% ball possession for Chile and 11:13 shots (9:6 on target), it wouldn't have been underserving. But instead La Roja scored the third goal in injury time and was victorious at the end.

Goooal for Chile, 3:1 by Jean Beausejour
The answer is: No they can't! The ball is diagonally passed into the penalty box and Pinilla's following attempt is blocked by Ryan. But the ball bounces back to Beausejour and the 30 year old immediately shoots from a distance of 20 metres. This way he scores with his left footed low shot into the far corner of the goal!

For the remaining minutes the South American team tries to retain possession right in front of the opposition's box. That's pretty clever!

Charles Aránguiz (Chile) is shown a yellow card
Aránguiz hits two Australian players with his tackle and is consequently booked for his foul. At first the Chilean wants to protest, but then stays calm and just goes away before getting himself into more trouble.

Chile don't find their way to the opposition's box at all, they just try to keep the ball and let time run down. This way La Roja are really acting passively, while Australia on the other hand is looking to attack all the time.

Australia make their third and final substitution. Bresciano goes off and is replaced by Troisi.

What's up with Chile? Most of their passes aren't precise enough and therefor are intercepted by the Socceroos. Right now La Roja don't look very confident.

Both teams make a substitution: While Valdivia is replaced by Beausejour, Oar goes off for Düsseldorf striker Halloran.

More and more, the Chileans regain possession of the ball. It seems like they want to score their third goal to calm down the game, before Australia can score the equalizer.

Vidal is substituted for Gutiérrez and the Juventus midfielder doesn't look very happy about it. Sampaoli probably wants to go easy on his playmaker after the former Leverkusen player was injured for a long time.

Mile Jedinak (Australia) is shown a yellow card
Jedinak can't control himself but hits Sánchez' legs in a rather hard duel. So the booking for the Australian captain is everything but surprising.

Goooal for Australia... or maybe not? Cahill steadily is looking for crosses he can process with a header to score the equalizier. This time he's successful, but his hit doesn't count because he's offside.

That's it for Franjic, he can't continue to play and inevitably has to be substituted with McGowan as the replacement.

Play resumes without any substitutions on either side.

Halftime Summary:
This was interesting! The Chileans took over control from the beginning and it didn't take very long for them to score their first goal in this world cup. After twelfe minutes Alexis Sánchez was able to put his name on the score sheet and it took his team only two additional minutes to increase their lead. With a 0-2 deficit, Australia seemed to already give up, but they came back! Since La Roja decelerated play and lost concentration, the Socceroos more and more tried to create some chances and just ten minutes before halftime they were successful with a simple header! So now with a 2-1 at halftime everything is possible.

Tim Cahill (Australia) is shown a yellow card
It's a yellow card for protesting after Vidal commits a foul against Wilkinson. Cahill seems to demand a yellow card for the Chilean but gets himself booked instead.

Cahill almost can score again! This time the striker has an attempt from a pointed angle, but it's blocked.

La Roja decreases pace and slightly gives away control, they don't seem to be concentrated enough any more. Blocking Valdivia's cross from the left side is an easy task for the oppositions's defense.

He could try to get a penalty from this but Sánchez doesn't, that's really impressive! Davidson's tackle is quite dangerous, so he's lucky that the Chilean continues play.

Chile are really playing well and look dominant, but you don't see Vidal controlling the game as expected. Now he has an attempt from the right corner of the penalty area, but it's far off the left post.

Obviously the Socceroos are completely devastated, they don't seem to know how to react. Chile have a walk-over now.

Goooal for Chile, 1:0 by Alexis Sánchez
The Barcelona striker scores! Aránguiz can breach into the box from the right side and maintains posession after being attacked at the corner of the six yard box. Subsequently he centers the ball into the penalty area and Vargas' header comes to Sánchez, who finishes easily from about four metres.

Now the Australians are repeatedly pushing forward, looking for a way to get in front of the Chilean goal. But their efforts aren't very convincing.

The Chileans try to take over possession from the beginning, with Vidal being the playmaker who's distributing the ball. The Socceroos react with a strong defense and can stop the opponents' efforts for now.

So Postecoglou's counterpart is well advised not to take this match lightly, as he stated: "This is really a first final for us against Australia. Our margin for error is small. We believe Australia will wait for us and counter. I need my players to be nimble and quick to break through strong defences."

Chile's star player, Arturo vidal, made his compatriots worry since he was suffering an inflammation to his right knee. But the Juventus midfielder will be able to play, as his coach Sampaoli stated: "This story's over I think. The physio's done a marvellous job, Vidal's diagnosis is clear, there's a high chance he'll play. His injury was rather complicated. We will now make a decision on whether he starts on the pitch, or on the bench."

The Chileans did well in the South American qualifying and finished on third place behind Argentina and Colombia. In 2014, La Roja won three out of four friendlies, only losing to Germany with 0-1. Before that they had beaten Costa Rica with a crushing 4-0. Then, two weeks ago Jorge Sampaoli's team managed to come back after a 0-2 deficit against Egypt and finally gained a 3-2 victory. Eventually Chile also beat Northern Ireland with 2-0.

Azad Derakhshani will be commenting this match.