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Once the elation of victory and the hangovers wear off, Brazil should feel the cold shiver of World Cup disaster narrowly averted.The shootout penalty win against Chile exposed the Selecao's flaws but also their lion heart. The question now is whether that strength will be enough to paper over those weaknesses.The abridged version of this furiously paced, draining, and high-stakes match of wind-up tension that carried Brazil to the quarterfinal will read: aging goalkeeper on the backend of an impressive career prevents the World Cup host from tumbling into the abyss. The consequences had Julio Cesar not become hero of the hour are almost too frightening to contemplate: national depression, certainly; perhaps riots, too, as the truth sunk in for Brazilians that they wouldn't win the World Cup they are paying billions for, to the fury of many of them.
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