Holland shock Brazil and Ghana lose but should be very proud

Holland beat Brazil?
Julio Cesar made a terrible mistake?
Wesley Sneijder scored with a header?
Felipe Melo got sent off for a stupid loss of discipline?

OK, the last one isn’t exactly a surprise but the other three are. I could have added the question, Graham Fisher got his prediction totally wrong? There is absolutely no surprise in that!

Let us look at each of the four things I started this article with in chronological order.

Comfortable

Brazil were not exactly coasting at 1-0 up but they were looking reasonably comfortable and it was difficult to see how Holland, who had been pretty poor in the first half, were going to get the goal they needed to stay in the tournament.

The answer to their problems came with a decent cross from Sneijder that was just too close to the keeper to be dangerous. I have never seen Julio Cesar make a terrible mistake before and those who see him regularly regard him as the best in the business. On this occasion however he contrived to miss the ball completely and Holland were right back in it.

Rattled

Brazil became terribly rattled and started arguing with every decision made by the referee and wrongly feeling that they were being hard done by. The Brazil players surrounded Arjen Robben complaining that he dived when he was quite clearly fouled. To be brutally honest, Brazil lost their heads.

Holland’s winning goal was another case of Brazil losing their heads, but this time it was losing two headers in their own penalty box. A near post corner was flicked on by Dirk Kuyt. First rule of defending a corner is that you do not allow the opposition to get to the front and flick on the ball. The flick was met by Sneijder who headed home unopposed from the middle of the six yard box. Second rule of defending a corner is don’t allow opposition players a free header from six yards. Third rule is don’t allow one of the smallest players on the pitch to score with a header.

Discipline

At 2-1 down Brazil needed to stay calm and keep their discipline. Enter Felipe Melo, the man sent off for elbowing Balotelli in the Inter v Juventus derby d’Italia this season and voted the worst player in Italy for 2009 by readers of Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Not content with kicking Arjen Robben once, he kicked him again and then for good measure raked his studs on him as he lay on the ground. It was stupid and pointless. He looked surprised to be sent off, but he must have been the only person in the world who was.

Favourites

The outcome was that Brazil, many people’s favourites for the tournament, were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by a Holland team that has stayed below the radar despite winning all their games so far, qualifying for the tournament with a 100% record and being ranked fourth in the world by Fifa. Perhaps when you consider those statistics, it is not that much of a surprise although it felt very much like it was.

For Brazil I’m afraid there were two massive errors. It doesn’t matter if it is my Wilton Town team in the Wiltshire League, or Brazil at the World Cup, if you can’t defend set-pieces and you can’t keep your discipline, you are very unlucky to win the game.

Flair

I watched Brazil earlier in the tournament and I was in awe of the way they played the game. They were compact and efficient yet they also possessed huge amounts of flair and showed us all what a beautiful game football is. Yesterday, they showed us the other side of their game and it was a very long way away from being beautiful.

I won’t upset any Dutch fans by predicting that they’ll go on to win the tournament! I still think a South American team will triumph. It is Argentina’s for the taking.

Superb

I can’t finish this article without mentioning the other great quarter-final last night. Ghana and Uruguay were superb and it is a real shame that either side had to lose. I hope Asamoah Gyan gets over his penalty miss really quickly because he needs to remember that he has had a wonderful tournament.

Ghana were great for the World Cup and great for Africa. Uruguay have been excellent and I wish them well against Holland. However, without Suarez, I have a feeling they will need all the luck in the world.