Imagine being woken up by the sounds of passing mobs on the street playing samba music from as early as 7:30 am. Well, this happened to me, as the round of 16 started. And who else would be in the first match but the host country, Brazil.

On this day Brazil would play South American rivals Chile in the first game and it would be one great match. Unfortunately, that match took place in Belo Horizonte, and I was in Rio de Janeiro awaiting the second match of the round of 16, Colombia against Uruguay.

The next best thing to watching a Brazil match in Brazil would be to experience the atmosphere, especially across the road from the Fan Fest where at least 5,000 people would be watching the match on giant screens provided.

I could be in the bathroom or not even watching the match at all to know if a goal had been scored as the atmosphere, or ‘vibes’ on the Copacabana Beach was extraordinary. After looking at the beach through my window I saw just one thing: yellow, and lots of it.

Everyone was out in his or her Brazilian jersey, shirts or anything they could get to show their love for their country; shops were even closing early so that workers could get to watch the match.

As people made arrangements to watch the match, it occurred to me that Brazil have been favourites to win the World Cup and they have a huge amount of pressure on them, so what if they were to lose here in the round of 16?

I imagined that Brazil would become the new Middle East as it would be all-out war and that many people would be injured or even worse. I said to myself that I would not want to be here in Brazil if that happened, as it would be way too dangerous, especially the way the team has been playing since the World Cup began, very poorly.

The match started and Chile looked the more dangerous team, but it would be Brazil who would get on the scoreboard first as a corner kick was turned home by defender David Luiz. Chile would equalise after a very composed finish from Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez after a defensive mistake by the Brazilian Hulk. The score would stay the same through full time and after extra-time, which meant the heartbreaking penalty shootout.

Brazil won the penalty shoot-out 3-2 after Chilean player Jara missed his team’s final shot. Due to the length of the Brazil match (extra-time and penalties), my family arrived very late to the Colombia game.

Actually, we arrived after 10 minutes of play in the match. It’s a good thing we still made the game, because soon after we arrived, we saw, in my view, the goal of the tournament by the player of the tournament James Rodriguez, who plays for Monaco in Ligue 1 in France.

A beautiful control on the chest and a volley by the Colombian that had the Uruguayan goalkeeper scrambling as it crept under the bar and in; an unstoppable shot. Colombia would go on to extend their lead in the second half with excellent ball movement resulting in a second goal for Rodriguez.

The feeling on the pitch was one of respect between the two teams, but it was the complete opposite in the stands. Fights were breaking out left and right between opposing fans. It was so bad that stewards had to send people out of the stands. We were lucky not to be around anyone extreme and decided to leave the match a little early so that we would not be caught in any skirmishes.