BRAZIL MADE IT THROUGH!

Brazil and Chile are two nations that have between them five World Cup victories (all going to Brazil) and have each hosted one past tournament, but neither have won it on their home soil while all other previous champions, with the exception of Germany, won their first (or only in the case of England and France) while hosting. And Brazil shares with Italy the distinction of winning two consecutive championships, in both cases they were their first two. And Brazil's second victory was in Chile.

Flash-forward to 2010 in South Africa: besides the drone of the vuvuzelas, several corners and free kicks, and a suspected handball which the ref just ignored and said to play on, the match was uneventful until Kaka, who is back from suspension, got yellow-carded in the 30th minute. Arturo Vidal, Ismael Fuentes, and Rodrigo Millar, who are also not sitting on a yellow, were booked in the second half. Ramires, on the other hand, got his second booking of the tournament in the 71st minute and won't be in their next game. Juan, Luis Fabiano, and Robinho scored one goal each for Brazil, taking the competition out 3-0.

Then, Paraguay and Japan both tried for their first quarterfinals ever. The score was 0-0 even after extra time, requiring a penalty shootout. I think corners and bookings should be used as tiebreakers before doing a penalty shootout. And speaking of bookings, nobody received a yellow card until Daisuke Matsui in the 57th minute. Further cautions went to Yuto Nagatomo, Keisuke Honda, Yasuhito Endo, and Christian Riveros. Most of the booked players received their yellow cards for handballs. Paraguay won the shootout 5-3.

Then came the battle of the Iberian Peninsula when Euro 2004 hosts Portugal took on Euro 2008 champions Spain. The first hour was rather uneventful but the last 30 minutes are where all the action took place: Xabi Alonso received the first booking for any Spanish player during the tournament, Tiago received his second booking of the tournament, one straight red was given out to Ricardo Costa, and a goal was scored for Spain by David Villa.