RIO DE JANEIRO—The second round of the World Cup gets underway on Saturday with host nation Brazil facing Chile and Colombia taking on Uruguay in an all-South American race to reach the quarterfinals.
Brazil will be the first to play, in Belo Horizonte, and faces a Chile squad that has lived up to its pre-tournament expectations as a team that could cause few surprises.
Colombia, which plays a Uruguay lineup that will be missing Luis Suarez, has also delivered so far on predictions of being a potential quarterfinalist in Brazil. Given Suarez’s absence, Colombia’s run should continue after Saturday’s game at Rio’s Maracana stadium.
The statistics point to one outcome at the Estadio Mineirao: Brazil has never lost to Chile on home soil and hasn’t been beaten by its South American rival in 14 years. On top of that, Neymar is already in scintillating form for Brazil at the tournament. AP