On the morning of October 11, Beijing time, in the 9th round of the South American zone of the World Preliminary Championship, Chile hosted Brazil. With a lightning goal conceded in the opening 69 seconds, Brazil reversed Chile 2-1 thanks to two goals from Igor Jesus and Luis Enrique, and with 13 points from nine games, it jumped to fourth place in the standings, six points behind Argentina at the top of the table.
In the first 8 matches of the South American zone of the World Preliminaries, Brazil won 3, drew 1 and lost 4 and only scored 10 points, which was a disappointing performance. Chile fared even worse, with 1 win, 2 draws and 5 losses in the first 8 games, accumulating 5 points and sitting in the bottom 2 places. Vinicius, who suffered a cervical spine injury, was sidelined, and Brazil fielded a front quartet of Savinho, Raphinha, Rodrygo and Igor Jesus, with Endrick on the bench.
Just 69 seconds into the opening period, Chile broke the deadlock:
It was Chile's attack on the right, receiving a cross from a teammate, Vargas nodded the ball and the ball went into the net, Chile led 1-0!
Brazil's attack is quite sluggish, and Real Madrid striker Rodrygo, wearing the number 10 shirt, cannot find a direction at all; Manchester City winger Savinho on the right is a rare attacking bright spot in Brazil. Raphinha, who plays in the front midfield, does not have the style of the Barcelona period.
In the 45+1st minute, Brazil finally equalized:
After Savinho burst on the right flank, he stepped on the bicycle in a row to shake off the angle, and then sent a cross, Igor Jesus shook his head to score, and the two teams returned to the same running line 1-1!
Igor Jesus, who made his debut for the national team, scored the first goal of the national team! The 23-year-old Isor Jesus, who plays for Botafogo, is valued at €6 million. In the star-studded Samba Army, Igor Jesus was just a "pawn", and his superstar team-mate was dumb, and he stepped up.
Yibian fought again, Brazil replaced Guimarães and Gerson, and removed Paqueta and Andre. In the 52nd minute, Brazil scored one goal and Raphinha shook the goalkeeper to score. However, the linesman raised the flag to signal that the Barcelona striker was offside and the goal was invalidated.
In the 57th minute, there was a controversial scene on the field:
Rodrygo dribbled into the box and the Chile defender reached out to intercept and tripped the Real Madrid striker. However, the referee refused to blow for a penalty. Such an obvious penalty was not awarded, which made Rodrygo very unhappy.
Brazil continued to adjust, replacing Savinho in the 68th minute and Igor Jesus in the 76th minute. In the 89th minute, Brazil scored a stunner:
Luis Enrique, who came off the bench, fired a low left-footed shot from inside the penalty area, the ball went through all the defenders in front of the goal and into the net, Brazil reversed 2-1! It was again the player who played for Botafogo and saved Brazil.
2-1, Brazil reversed Chile to win. Brazil, with 13 points in nine games, jumped to fourth place in South America, while Chile remained in second from bottom and the World Cup prospects were bleak.