Brazil were booed by their own fans after stumbling to a 2-2 draw with Chile in their first friendly at a 2014 World Cup stadium on Wednesday. The match at the newly refurbished Mineirao in Belo Horizonte was coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's last test before naming his squad on May 14 for the Confederations Cup to be held at six venues in Brazil in June.
The friendly, in which Chile were attempting to win in Brazil for the first time in 26 appearances, was also a chance for the local World Cup organising committee to test the venue, the second to be ready for the June 15-30 tournament. Despite a good turnout with a crowd of over 53,000 and a pre-match party, the demanding home fans booed their team and shouted 'Ole' when the Chileans exchanged a string of passes.
"One day you're booed, the next you're praised, football's like that," said striker Neymar, who put Brazil 2-1 up in the 54th minute from a pass by substitute striker Alexandre Pato. Defender Marcos Gonzalez, who plays his club football in Brazil for Flamengo, headed Chile into the lead from a free kick in the eighth minute.
Centre back Rever equalised for Brazil midway through the first half heading home Neymar's corner. Striker Eduardo Vargas, who plays for Brazilian side Gremio, gave Chile the draw with a superb shot into the top corner from outside the box in the 64th.
"It's difficult with a team that only trained once. We tried but everyone knew it was going to be tough," Brazil captain Ronaldinho said. Brazil, who as World Cup hosts have been limited to playing friendlies, have won one, drawn three and lost one of their five games under 2002 world champion coach Scolari in his second spell in charge.
Chile are fourth in the highly competitive South American World Cup qualifying group from which the top four automatically reach the 2014 finals and the fifth goes into a playoff against an Asian qualifier for another berth
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