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Brazil wary of Chile threat (TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TEAM 1410) South American rivals Brazil and Chile open up the second round of the World Cup at the Estadio Mineirao on Saturday in an intriguing contest. It is also a matchup that Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari believes will be a serious test for his side. "If I could choose another opponent, I would," Scolari said a few days ago when asked about playing Chile. "I think theyre the trickiest side we could have been drawn against. They have everything." Chile advanced to the knockout round from a difficult Group B that included the Netherlands, Spain and Australia. La Roja started its tournament with wins over Australia and Spain to book a place in the next round before sitting a few key players in the group finale against the Netherlands, which topped Chile, 2-0, to win the group. One of the players that Chile head coach Jorge Sampaoli decided to rest against the Dutch was midfielder Arturo Vidal, who underwent knee surgery prior to the start of the tournament and who is expected to come straight back into the lineup against the hosts on Saturday. Vidal, along with Alexis Sanchez and Charles Aranguiz, will provide the biggest offensive threats for Chile, which will hope to exploit a Brazil back line that tends to get forward a lot and could be susceptible to counter attacks. As expected, Brazil finished atop Group A after wins over Croatia and Cameroon and a 0-0 draw with Mexico. The Selecao netted seven goals in three group-stage matches, including four from star forward Neymar, despite not appearing to hit top gear. Now, Scolari knows his team must take its play to the next level to get past a tough Chile side. "I hope that Chile dont qualify for the last 16," the coach said back in December after the draw for the World Cup. "I would prefer to face any other side. They are intelligent and their style of play doesnt suit us. It would be better to play against a European team." Scolari didnt get his wish, but his team may be able to exploit a height advantage against Chile to get to the quarterfinals. Against Australia in the group stage, Chiles shorter defenders struggled to cope with the aerial threat of Tim Cahill, while the Dutch scored on a header from Leroy Fer in the second half of the group finale to take the lead. Brazil should be a real threat from any set-piece opportunity in the attacking third with players like Fred, David Luiz and Thiago Silva able to get on the other end of crosses. Neymar has been as good as advertised so far, while Brazils threat in the air will also pose a stiff challenge for the Chileans. A win for Chile would give the club its first berth in the quarterfinals at a World Cup since 1962, and Sanchez is confident that his side will make history. "We have respect for them [Brazil] but I think we are going to beat them," he said. "We came to this World Cup to make history. We beat the world champions and, although we had a slip-up against Holland, we are going out to try and win the Cup." Colombia squares off with Suarez-less Uruguay (TSN 1050, TSN 1200, TEAM 1410) Uruguay has attracted plenty of attention at the 2014 World Cup, and not always for the right reasons, but the team will attempt to put its distractions aside against an impressive Colombia outfit at the Maracana on Saturday in the round of 16. Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has been a lightning rod for attention in Brazil, first sitting out his teams 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica after knee surgery, and then making a triumphant return against England that saw him score twice in a 2-1 Uruguay win. But the Liverpool striker stunned the soccer world by biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the second half of Uruguays 1-0 win in the group-stage finale to book a place in the second round. Suarez was not punished on the field, but FIFAs Disciplinary Committee came down hard on him after reviewing the incident, banning Suarez for nine international matches and from all football-related activity for four months. The loss of Suarez will put added pressure on forward Edinson Cavani, whose only goal so far in the tournament was a penalty kick in the opening match. Veteran Diego Forlan is expected to come in for Suarez, but this team has so far looked like a much different side with Suarez in the lineup than without him. Uruguay needed a win over Italy in its final Group D match to advance, and it wasnt Suarez who provided the difference, rather it was defender Diego Godin. The Atletico Madrid man scored the goal that clinched La Liga for his side in the final game of the season in May, while he also put Atletico ahead with a goal in the Champions League final. And he popped up once again to head home the winning goal against Italy in the final 10 minutes. "We didnt make it easy for ourselves, starting the way we did, and it was a miracle that we pulled it off in the end," Godin said of his team finally securing a place in the knockout round. "Now we can start thinking about the last 16, but no further. We respect everyone but fear no one." Godin will need to be on top of his game defensively if Uruguay is to reach the quarterfinals because his team is coming up against a Colombia side that has been one of the most impressive at the tournament so far. The Colombians won all three of their group-stage matches by a combined score of 9-2, with midfielder James Rodriguez turning in an especially impressive performance. The 22-year-old Monaco man has netted three goals with three assists so far, and along with Juan Cuadrado, Teofilo Gutierrez and Jackson Martinez, Godin and Uruguay will have their hands full. Colombia has also enjoyed some incredibly vocal support from its fans, making its three group matches feel like home games according to 21-year-old midfielder Juan Quintero. "Its like were playing in Barranquilla," Quintero said of the support Colombia has received. "The fans are 100 percent behind us and that makes us feel great. Were playing for our people and we want to make them as happy as we can." A win over Uruguay on Saturday would no doubt please Colombian supporters, especially since it would mark the first time that Colombia has ever advanced to the quarterfinals at a World Cup. Harrison Smith Jersey Cheap . Sweeting scored two in the first and three in the second before Strong (4-4) got two back in the fourth. Sweeting then scored three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab a commanding 9-2 lead. Kirk Cousins Vikings Youth Jersey . Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night. http://www.fansvikingsteamstore.com/. None of them are Finlands Pekka Rinne, who stands as Canadas biggest challenge in Thursdays quarter-final round. Even while a young Finnish team has struggled with penalties, turnovers and a lack of offensive depth, Rinne has been a rock with a 1. Minnesota Vikings Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Harrison Smith Vikings Jersey . Advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals should be a formality after Lionel Messi scored a penalty and Dani Alves added a late second to secure a commanding 2-0 advantage over City in the round of 16 on Tuesday.They took away her ‘C, but they didnt take away her heart. Hayley Wickenheiser, the greatest womens hockey player ever, stole the show as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in a thrilling nail-biter preliminary game in Sochi Wednesday. Wickenheiser set up Canadas first goal of the game on a nifty pass to Meghan Agosta-Marciano and then scored her second goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics – the 18th of her Olympic career. Not only that, the 35-year-old Wickenheiser played a strong defensive game, too, shutting down Team USAs top scorers. It is no coincidence that in the dying seconds of the game, with the United States on the power play and its goalie on the bench in favour of an extra skater, Wickenheiser was one of the four Canadian skaters on the ice in pure defensive mode. The victory for Canada means it avoids a tough semifinal matchup against the pesky Finnish squad. Canada defeated Finland 3-0 earlier in the tournament, but didnt score until 9:27 of the third period. The Finns are capable of pulling off an upset in this years Olympics. Wickenheiser, a two-time Olympic MVP, had been the captain of the Canadas national team, but it was announced by Hockey Canada prior to the Olympics that Caroline Ouellette would be the captain in Sochi. Wickenheiser was named an alternate captain. There had even been some chatter leading up to the Games she might be cut from the team. Given how well she has played in Sochi, that would have been a dreadful mistake. Its a team game For Wickenheiser, it is all about the team. “Were so close,” she said of the bitter rivalry with the United States. “Sometimes it just comes down to the team that gets a break or has more energy. I liked the energy level and determination in our game [today].” On snapping the four-game losing streak to Team USA, Wickenheiser said, “Its a confidence booster. [Coach] Kevin Dineen has had some time to prepare for this game. He also needed time to get to know the players in our room; the strengths and weaknesses. We have all the confidence in him.” So, with the victory over the United States, is it advantage Canada moving into the medal round? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Bragging rights Certainly Canada has bragging rights following its win over Team USA. However, history has shown what happens leading up to the Games doesnt necessarily have anything to do with who wins the gold medal. In 2002, Team USA had beaten Canada 10 times in a row, but the Canadians shocked the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the gold-medal game at Salt Lake City. It is also worth noting prior to the last tthree Olympic Games, the United States won the world championship only to have Canada rebound to take gold at the Olympics.dddddddddddd The United States certainly had a mental edge over Canada entering the game – the first time the teams had met in the preliminary round since 1998 – thanks to four straight victories over their rivals in a six-game exhibition series leading up to the Olympic Games. In 1998 in Nagano, Japan, Team USA beat Canada 7-4 in the preliminary round and 3-1 in the gold-medal game. At the very least, Canada now knows it can skate with and beat the powerful United States club. Doing it twice in a row will not be easy. “It felt so good,” said winning goalie Charline Labonte. “We have been struggling a bit the past couple of games against them. We have worked really hard to readjust and become a better team. They came out really strong, as expected, so I am really glad we came up with the win.” American scoring ace Amanda Kessel was understandably dissatisfied with the final result. "It hurts," Kessel said. "Every game matters. They didnt get to see how we can play." A lot has been made of the fact the two teams have an intense dislike for one another – as indicated by the two line brawls in the final few exhibition games leading up to the Olympics – and it was fully on display in Wednesdays preliminary match. Despite the fact bodychecking is illegal in womens hockey, players from both teams rode that fine line between handing out jarring hits, just hard and incidental enough so as not to cause Finnish referee Anna Eskola to penalize them. In that regard, Eskola did a fine job in allowing the game to be physical without getting goofy. "Both teams were aggressive," said American forward Hilary Knight. Youll get our top game when we play one another and thats a great thing. We are both good teams and we are competitive." Canada matched USAs speed and demonstrated a penchant for driving hard to the net from start to finish. If there was a concern for Canada it was the ineffectiveness of its power play. Canada entered the third period a mere 1-for-10 with the man advantage throughout the tournament. It was zero-for-three in the first 40 minutes. However, Agosta-Marciano accepted a perfectly-placed pass from Wickenheiser and scored with Americas Brianna Decker in the penalty box to tie the game 1-1 with a much-needed power-play marker. Decker had been sent