FIFA World Cup 2010: Brazil set up clash with Netherlands, Dunga against Marwijk
It will be a clash of two titans and football for the purists when Brazil take on Netherlands in the World cup quarter finals on Friday, July 2nd 2010.
Brazil have breezed past every opponent they have faced so far in the World Cup with some slick looking fluid football that has made them favourites for this year. Not that they weren’t the top contenders for the trophy when they arrived in South Arica but the way they have played their football in the tournament has only made people wonder what it would take to stop the Brazilian samba on the football pitch.
Netherlands, on the other hand have won all the games that they have played in this World Cup and have conceded only two goals so far and that too on penalties. The Dutch have not hit their top form and there is nothing more dangerous than a side that is winning without even putting in their best performance.
Brazil versus Netherlands is not just a football match, it’s a clash of two entirely different foot balling systems. It will be a clash of two teams whose foot balling ethos’s are in stark contrast to each other. One plays the European system of football based on method, and tactics, and has in place a system to dismantle any attack in the world. While one mesmerizes the audiences with slick attacking football at supersonic speed, they make their fans dance to the tunes of Samba, while ripping their opponents apart on the pitch. The clash is the epitome of football and two contrasting coaches, Marwijk and Dunga. They will pit their wits against each other in a battle of tactical supremacy in football and the world audiences are drooling over the prospect of such a mammoth clash.
It has been a long time since the Netherlands caught the imagination of the world with some slick football and have very much gone under the radar since their triumph at Euro 88. But eight wins on the trot in qualifying and four wins out of four in South Africa is a glaring testament to the fact that they will prove to be a hard nut to crack even for the Samba boys from Brazil.
The Dutch have not tasted defeat in 23 of their previous outings. One has to go back to September 08 to see this sublimely talented bunch of footballers lose 2-1 to Australia.
Much has already been said about the strength of South American football this year but only once in the history of the World Cup has a European team failed to be in the Final. The fact that Brazil and Argentina are on different sides of the draw, there is a possibility of an all South American final for the first time since 1930.
Both the teams have plenty of attacking flair, with Kaka, Robinho and Fabiano leading the Brazilian contingent. Robben Van Persie and Sneijder will carry the Duth hopes on their shoulders. Brazil has an edge in defence with the presence of world class defenders such as Juan and Lucio. But the class of Robben can hold the key to any locked door and he has returned to fitness at a good time and if his goal yesterday was a sign of things to come then football fans all over the world are in for a real treat.
It is tough to predict who will win this game. Perhaps it will be another goalkeeping howler or a horrendous refereeing decision deciding the game. But with the match being played in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth the Jabulani is expected to behave a little better and if it rains it will definitely suit the Dutch better than the Selecao.
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