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"We select the best defensive performances from day 17 of the World Cup in Brazil, with a former Chelsea player and a Blues target featuring.The World Cup knockout stages kicked off in dramatic fashion yesterday. The first tie of the round saw hosts Brazil face off against Chile, resulting in a 1-1 draw that had to be settled in nail biting penalties. Luiz Felipe Scolari's men held their nerve to qualify for the quarter finals in emotional scenes. In the second game of the day, Colombia continued their impressive form by beating Uruguay 2-0, with both goals coming from the superb James Rodriguez. Below we list some of the days best performers in a range of key defensive areas. Tackling    &amp;nbsp; TeamPosWon TackleTackling Accuracy %AppsMins   Marcelo Brazil DF 5 83.33 1 120  Eugenio Mena Chile DF 4 100.00 1 120  Mario Yepes Colombia DF 4 80.00 1 90  David Luiz Brazil DF 2 100.00 1 120  Thiago Silva Brazil DF 2 100.00 1 120    Real Madrid's Brazilian fullback Marcelo epitomised the fighting spirit of Brazil, winning 5 tackles - the most of the day. Chilean defender Eugenio Mena also impressed by winning just one less challenge, and managing to avoiding losing any. Possession won in defensive third &amp;amp; distribution    &amp;nbsp; TeamPosPoss Won Def 3rdPassing Accuracy %AppsMins   Mauricio Isla Chile DF 7 63.83 1 120  David Luiz Brazil DF 6 72.50 1 120  Dani Alves Brazil DF 5 76.27 1 120  Gonzalo Jara Chile DF 5 85.71 1 120  Marcelo Brazil DF 5 74.24 1 120    Juventus' defender/midfielder Mauricio Isla had a strong game on the right hand side for Chile, and he won possession 7 times against the hosts - which sounds even better considering he found himself up against Neymar at times during the game. Ground duels for possession won    &amp;nbsp; TeamPosDuel WonGround Duels Won %AppsMins   Marcelo Brazil DF 11 61.11 1 120  Diego God&amp;iacute;n Uruguay DF 9 75.00 1 90  Dani Alves Brazil DF 8 61.54 1 120  Thiago Silva Brazil DF 8 61.54 1 120  Juan Zu&amp;ntilde;iga Colombia DF 8 88.89 1 90    Marcelo again was outstanding when it came to ground duels for possession, winning 11 battles. Chelsea linked defender Diego Godin was also strong against Colombia, coming in second with 9 duels won and with a better percentage of wins than Marcelo. Clearances    &amp;nbsp; TeamPosEffective ClearanceAppsMins   Gary Medel Chile DF 12 1 108  Thiago Silva Brazil DF 11 1 120  Diego God&amp;iacute;n Uruguay DF 8 1 90  David Luiz Brazil DF 7 1 120  Dani Alves Brazil DF 5 1 120    You could tell at the final whistle that no one cared more or tried harder for Chile than Cardiff star Gary Medel - and the stats prove that, with the 26-year-old clearing the ball to safety 12 times, one more than Brazilian skipper Thiago Silva. Aerial battles won    &amp;nbsp; TeamPosAerial WonAerial Duels Wons %AppsMins   Thiago Silva Brazil DF 5 55.56 1 120  Diego God&amp;iacute;n Uruguay DF 4 80.00 1 90  Jos&amp;eacute; Mar&amp;iacute;a Gim&amp;eacute;nez Uruguay DF 3 75.00 1 90  Gary Medel Chile DF 3 50.00 1 108  Pablo Armero Colombia DF 2 100.00 1 90    One area that Silva did come out on top was aerial duels, winning 5 battles, even though he lost his fair share. Godin again came just behind, though managed to win a superb 80% of his challenges.Which defenders have impressed you so far?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2014/06/17/world-cup-best-defender-day-5-club-star-feat/>