adminWhen Chile striker Mauricio Pinilla smashed an effort towards goal in the final minute of extra-time against Brazil he must have thought he was going to be a hero.
But rather than ripping into the top corner to put Chile through and send the hosts crashing out, the ball struck the crossbar, meaning extra-time finished with the score level at 1-1.
Rather than try and eradicate the memory of his shot that was agonisingly close to causing a huge upset, Pinilla has chosen to get a tattoo of it on his lower back, with the line, “One centimetre from glory.”
Brazil went on to win the penalty shoot-out thanks to some goalkeeping heroics from Julio Cesar, with Pinilla one of the Chile players to miss his spot-kick.
The 30-year-old, who plays for Italian side Cagliari, has scored six goals in 30 appearances for his national side.
Chile proved to be one of the surprise packages in Brazil after beating the reigning world and European champions Spain 2-0 in the group stage.
But the last-16 game against Brazil was one step too far for Jorge Sampaoli’s side, with Brazil advancing to the quarter-finals where they will play another South American side Colombia. — Mailonline
Online Reporter