/ 2 July 2010

Glamour boys Brazil bundled out of World Cup

Brazil, the glamour boys of global football, are out of the World Cup. The Seleção lost 2-1 to Holland in the first of the tournament’s quarterfinals which was played on Friday afternoon at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

This, after they clawed their way back into the game after being 1-0 down at halftime.

The Samba Kings had gone ahead in the 10th minute when forward Robhino latched on to a Felipe Melo through ball — sent from inside the Brazil half — which sliced through the Holland team. With only goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to beat, Robhino finished with aplomb.

Holland played much of the first half on the back foot from that point on. The odd foray into the Brazil half did not provide many opportunities as they lacked both guile and penetration. This was despite midfielder Mark van Bommel being in dominant form, attempting to drive the team forward and cleaning up with his tackles in what was a fierce midfield confrontation between the sides.

Brazil dominated the first half as they alternated between probing patiently for a swift attack and swarming forward. They piled on the pressure, winning a series of corners, the most promising of which came in the 24th minute and saw Dani Alves dummy a cross into the box, then advance into it and square along the ground to Juan who blasted his shot over.

In one of the Seleção’s best moves of the first half, Robhino dazzled the Dutch defence with a bout of trickery before squirming his way past Nigel de Jong and Gregory van der Wiel on the Dutch right in the 30th minute. The diminutive forward then squared the ball for Luis Fabiano whose back-heeled pass-on found Kaka on the edge of the Holland box. A rip-roaring curler from the Real Madrid forward drew a splendid diving save from Stekelenburg.

On the stroke of halftime, Maicon’s thunderous angled shot from outside the box on the Brazil right flank hit the side-netting in another great goal-scoring opportunity for Brazil.

The second half saw the Dutch emerge as they frustrated the Brazilians in midfield before equalising in the 52nd minute with an own goal that the match officials attributed to Brazil defender Juan. But Wesley Sneijder’s diagonal cross into the box appeared to have missed everyone, including Juan, who did, however, appear to be impeding Julio Cesar who was coming off his line for the ball, which found itself nestling in the back of the Brazil net.

Bouyed by the goal and the rapturous support from fans who drummed and sang until they were hoarse, the Dutch then took control of the match.

The Dutch pressure was certainly starting to show as they won a series of corners. And it was from one of these set pieces that saw Dirk Kuyt flick on to Sneijder, who scored a rare goal with his head in the 67th minute.

Holland were now 2-1 up and Brazil really had their backs against the wall after Felipe Melo was sent off in the 72nd minute for a stamp on Arjen Robben’s calf.

Brazil attempted to muster a response with 10 men, but the Dutch eventually prevailed.