2010 FIFA World Cup Quarter Finals – Brazil Vs Netherlands Analysis Can Netherlands stop Brazil
There were a few countries, when the World Cup started, who were considered to be favourites for the semi finals. Luckily, or unluckily for some, all the big guns are colliding to meet each other before the semi finals. We have already seen the very exciting match between Spain and Portugal, the sides who had a ranking difference of only one, between them. On the other hand, we also saw the English going head to head with the Germans; and we cannot forget how Brazil and Portugal met during the group stages and ended the match in a goalless draw.
Now, we are going to see the best team in the World, Brazil, fighting for the spot in the semi finals, against a team which is probably the last team that can stop Brazil from advancing to the Finals. If Brazil wins today, it will face either Ghana or Uruguay, who, undoubtedly, is no match for the mighty Brazilians. On the other hand, the Netherlanders are going to go through the same and they are looking forward to it.
The Dutch side is still unbeaten in the tournament and they have won all the matches they’ve played so far. The Netherlanders were paired up in a group with Denmark, Japan and Cameroon. Their first match was against Denmark during which they stood out and scored two goals. First, came off of a defender and the other scored by Dirk Kuyt on a deflected shot from the keeper, which came right onto his feet and he made no mistake about it. Their second match was against the very impressive Asian side, Japan. The Japanese proved to be very strong in defence during the first half of the match, as they did not let the Dutch attackers make way through their defence, but most of the possession was kept by the Dutch side. Soon, in the second half, the Dutch finally made a break through as a shot from Wesley Sneijder found the net and the first goal was scored. The final goal line stayed the same, 1-0, as the match ended with Netherlands winning their points for this match, getting 6 in total and getting a pass to the next round as they won their two matches out of three.
Their last match was against the Cameroonian side that were already out of the tournament. The Dutch side looked more like they are in a training camp; they passed the ball around, took a few shots on goal, kept possession and tried to make moves, just to impress the fans from all around the world. Later, the Arsenal star, Robin Van Persie, struck his first goal from his strong left foot to make the score line 1-0 just after the 35th minute and the half ended with the same score line. During the second half, the Cameroonian did not get to touch the ball a lot but when they did, they tried aiming for the goal. Soon, they actually found a way into the eighteen yard box, where Van Der Vaart handled the ball and bought the Cameroonian side a chance to score their first goal by winning them a penalty. Samuel Eto’o scored without making any mistake and made the score line 1-1.
During the later stages of the match, the Milan star Huntelar scored his first goal of the tournament and made it 2-1 right before the 90th minute mark. The Cameroonians had to leave South Africa without scoring a single point for their country. On the other hand, the Dutch left the group with their 100% win record. They advanced to meet Slovakia in the pre quarter finals, who were over helmed by their performance against Italy. Slovakia defeated and knocked out the defending champions, to cause one of the biggest upsets in this World Cup. However, Slovakians ran out of luck in the match against the Dutch, as they were knocked out by the Dutch side, as they scored two goals before the Slovakian side actually made a break through during the end of the match when they won a penalty. They scored but it was too little too late as the Dutch side won the match 2-1 and qualified for the quarter finals.
On the other hand, the Brazilians have been nothing less than impressive throughout their run in the tournament. They have surely lived up to the expectation of being the best team in the world, as they are also unbeaten but have not won all the matches they have played in this world cup. They were in the group of death, which was actually called the group of death because they themselves were a part of it. Their first match was against the underdogs of the group, Korea. They won the first match with a one goal margin, as the Koreans did not let them make a breakthrough during the first half and the match was goalless in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, Maicon made a fabulous run from a through ball given by Ricardo Kaka and managed to score a goal from an unusual angle, which is still taken as one of the best goals in this FIFA World Cup 2010.
Their second match was against the best African side, the Ivory Coast. They were easily beaten by the very strong Brazilian side, as the final score line was 3-1 when the whistle was blown to end the match. The match, however, ended on a negative note when Ricardo Kaka was red carded for what looked to be like a hand on the face of the opponent but turned out to be almost nothing. After winning this match, they faced a much tougher Portuguese side. Although they made a lot of moves inside the box and struck a lot of shots on goal but they were denied by the Portuguese keeper, Eduardo, as the match ended in a goalless draw; therefore, both the teams advanced to the second round to meet their opponents in the pre quarter finals. Brazil met their fellow South Americans, Chile in the pre quarter finals. The Brazilians won the match 3-0 as they gave their best performance of this tournament so far. By beating the Chileans, the Brazilians qualified for the quarter finals.
Today, the Dutch and the South American sides are colliding to meet each other in a match that is considered to be one of the “best matches” of the tournament so far. Will the Dutch finally get their hands on the gold when they beat Brazil to make it to the Semi finals, or will the Brazilians make another great performance and win the title for the 6th time?
Since the African soil is already getting famous for the amount of upsets that have happened, nothing can truly be said. Let the games begin!
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