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Philippines, 22 Dec 2024 |
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BRAZIL SAMBAS WAY TO WIN, THE NETHERLANDS PROVIDE A DUTCH TREAT By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Tue, 29 Jun 2010  Providing the flair they are known for on the football field, Brazil sambaed its way to what may well be an epic quarter final showdown against the Netherlands who provided a Dutch treat en route to ousting Slovakia for the third time with their 2-1 victory over Slovakia while Brazil ripped Chile 3-0 in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Most people consider it a pity that one of the two favored teams, one from South America and the other from Europe have to face off in the quarters but if style is the deciding factor then Brazil must be favorites to overcome a Netherlands side that plays a more conservative game than the free-flowing football of the memorable Johan Cruyff era. The Brazilians and the Dutch will clash on Friday in Port Elizabeth in one of the intriguing match-ups which will be telecast ?live? on ABS-CBN?S SkyCable Channel 34. It will be the third encounter between the two squads in the last five FIFA World Cups with Brazil emerging winners in two confrontations. Brazil won 3-2 in the US in 1994 and 4-2 on penalties in France in 1998. But that will surely not guarantee a victory in South Africa against a solid, workmanlike Netherands team. Brazil demonstrated its brand of dazzling football when it needed to in an impressive 3-0 win over Chile even as the FIFA report commended Brazil for producing some compelling football at times, A Sele??o once again proved lethal in front of goal, taking their chances with aplomb. Falling some way short of the standards they set in the group phase, Chile suffered the same fate that befell them at France 1998, when they lost 4-2 to Brazil in the Round of 16. Chile had entertained high hopes of reaching the quarter-finals for only the second time in their history but they never truly reckoned with the class of Brazil. The Netherlands on the other hand reiterated their title aspirations with another convincing display. A tough and sometimes rugged Slovakia team were largely no match for the Dutch as they chalked up a 2-1 triumph, their fourth win in four games in South Africa. The last time the Oranje put together a run like this in the FIFA World Cup was at Germany 1974, when they lost to Franz Beckenbauer's West Germany in the Final. Though Bert van Marwijk's men have yet to hit the aesthetic heights reached by the Clockwork Orange, the impact Arjen Robben brought into the match for the Dutch in his first start of the World Cup in South Africa gave the Orangemen an extra, probing and dangerous dimension up front, especially when he worked in tandem with the ever-present Wesley Sneijder. The two conjured up the first goal, the Inter Milan midfielder playing a long ball over the top of the Slovakia defence for Robben to scamper on to, cut inside, and rifle home. Sneijder added a second late on to secure the Netherlands a place in the quarter-finals for the fifth time in the last nine FIFA World Cups. While Robben?s first goal was a master-class in control and thundering left-footed power and precision, the goal of the day was scored by Brazil?s Luis Fabiano in tnhe 38th minute of the clash with Chile according to FIFA?s match recap. It recalled that Robinho took off down the left before squaring to Kaka just outside the box. The Real Madrid midfielder's cute first-time pass took out Chile?s central defenders at a stroke and allowed the waiting Fabiano to skip round Claudio Bravo and roll the ball home. The Netherlands had their moments too as FIFA described the moment to remember when Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg kept his side ahead thanks to a superb reflex save from Robert Vittek with 23 minutes remaining in Durban. Receiving a pass just inside the box, the big centre-forward turned and unleashed a fierce drive that brought the very best out of Stekelenburg, his one-handed stop proving the highlight of another assured display between the posts. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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