World Cup 2014: Brazil closing in on heaven - Scolari

Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari says his side are three games from "heaven" after reaching the World quarter-finals with a penalty shootout win over Chile.

The hosts won the shootout 3-2 and will play Colombia in the last eight.

"We took upon ourselves this mission that we must be champions," said former Chelsea manager Scolari.

"If you make a promise, you must deliver. This is what the players are doing. There are three more games to see if we can reach heaven."

Scolari admitted before the game that the hosts were "anxious", "afraid" and "nervous".

But they looked set for victory when defender David Luiz gave them the lead after 18 minutes.

Chile equalised through Alexis Sanchez on 32 minutes and almost snatched victory in the dying seconds of extra time when Mauricio Pinilla crashed a shot against the crossbar.

"In every match, the difficulties are escalating," said Scolari, who led Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002.

"The World Cup has shown that teams are very balanced. If you cannot exploit one or two or three chances, as we didn't today, then you might pay the price for that and go out."

However, the former Portugal boss was not happy with his opposite number Jorge Sampaoli.

"We are being very cordial, very nice and polite to the foreign teams, but perhaps it's time for us to change," he said.

"They were almost encroaching into our area. It was almost like war, they were waging a battle. I can't hold it in, I can't be polite any more."

Scolari says Barcelona striker Neymar, who has scored four goals in the tournament so far, has a thigh injury, suffered at the start of the game against Chile, but is confident he will be fit for Friday's quarter-final.

Keeper Julio Cesar, who saved two penalties, was third choice for QPR until joining Toronto in February

Brazil captain Thiago Silva admitted the pressure was taking its toll on his team-mates, adding: "If we have to go to penalties again, we will end up killing someone."

Chile boss Sampaoli said he was proud of his players for pushing the hosts all the way.

"I told them to fight, I told them to be brave, I told them to defy history," he said. "We came so close, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

"The players have represented our country in a beautiful, wonderful way."

Former Brazil midfielder Juninho, working as a Match of the Day pundit, said it was "very emotional" to see Brazil go through, but said the hosts would have to play better if they wanted to win the tournament.

"We need to play the Brazilian way and keep the ball on the floor," he said. "Brazil need to improve every game."