The Netherl
ands controlled the game within the opening 7 minutes of the game until Daniel Alves found a way upfront to set up Robinho with a goal. But the Asian referee was right to disallow it for offside as the Barcelona man wasn’t in a correct position as he received the ball from the midfield before squaring it to Robinho.
From there, the Brazilians came alive and Robinho quickly brushed away his early disappointment by calmly slotting the ball at the back of the net to give Brazil a 1-0 lead after only 10 minutes. What a blow for the Oranje! Arjen Robben’s marker Michel Bastos was fortunate to be left without a booking following two reckless challenges on the Dutch play maker. For the Brazilians, it was Kaka who was the victim of harsh tackles.
He had a decent appeal for a penalty turned down midway through the first half before a good opportunity was presented onto him in the 30th minute thanks to Robinho’s great move down the left hand side of the pitch. But the Real Madrid midfielder wasted too much time before producing a nice effort. However, Holland’s goalkeeper made an equally fine save to deny Kaka’s volley from doubling Brazil’s lead.
The Dutch went into the dressing rooms with a 1-0 deficit. They might have blamed it on Arjen Robben’s selfishness around the 18-yard box.
Either way, it was through Robben that the Netherlands found a vital equalizer. The star winger was once again brought down by Michel Bastos and Wesley Sneijder converted a breathtaking volley into Brazil’s net out of the resulting quick free-kick. 53 minutes gone: 1-1, and the goal was finally judge to be a Felipe Melo own goal.
The Oranje suddenly gained more confidence but the Brazilians didn’t seat back in disappointment either. Kaka came very close to scoring the third goal of the game in the 65th minute through a firing shot which flew just wide off the post. But Wesley Sneijder showed the Brazilians how to put more goals into the net when he banged in a great goal in the 68th minute.
His goal came in from a corner taken by Arjen Robben.
Robben’s ball was headed backward
s by Kuyt. It found Sneijder’s forehead and the short Inter Milan just had to knock it with power and precision. Amazingly, the Netherlands were leading the Brazilians 2-1.
Wesley Sneijder’s double inflicted danger on Brazil, but Felipe Melo struck his own team with disaster. In a moment of madness, the Juventus player angrily kicked Arjen Robben twice before stomping on him and forcing him to give away the ball that was in Robben’s hands. The referee had no other option than to flash a straight red card to send Felipe Melo off the battlefield. Definitely, the Brazilian was the flop of the match.
A Seleçao could not come back. The Dutch even had a few more open opportunities to increase the goal margin; in fact, the Netherlands were just toying with the Brazilians. The three minutes of added time knew no revival for the five-time World Cup champions; the game ended 2-1. 'Almighty Brazil', as they are called, fell today when all the odds were against their enemies from the Oranje Army. Expect the media in Brazil to pounce on Coach Carlos Dunga. Brazil will have to wait again before tasting World Cup glory. Perhaps, on their soil in 2014, the moment will arrive. But today in Africa, it wasn't their time.
So Holland have grabbed the first tickets for the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They’ll have to wait until later today to know their opponents: Uruguay or Ghana?
