itsbeautifuloutside

Match Report

This whole 3rd/4th place play-off thing, I mean, what's the point? For one of the teams, it is always going to mean finishing on a real low, by losing two games in a row and surely wiping out any good feeling of having got to the World Cup Semi-finals in the first place.

This game was even worse from the point of view of the hosts Brazil, not only did they get knocked out by Germany and conceding a whopping seven goals, but their misery was compounded by losing again to the Netherlands and conceding another three goals.

Just some statistics to chew on that I saw on the BBC website :

1. This is the first time since 1940 that Brazil have lost consecutive matches on home soil.
2. Brazil have failed to score in two games of the World Cup finals since 1978.
3. Prior to Brazil conceding 14 goals this year the last team to concede 14 goals or more in a World Cup finals was Belgium in 1986.
4. This is only the second time in the past ten World Cup third place play-offs that a team has failed to score. Bulgaria achieved the same feat in 1994.

Pretty damned dismal. The sort of thing England can only aspire to, but we expect more of Brazil though.

Although this game did not descend to the depths of the drubbing administered in the Semi-Final by the Germans, this was equally depressing, as it only served to confirm what was so wrong with the Brazilian team.

After the Semi, Scolari and the team dismissed it as a freakish one-off. This game confirmed that it was no such thing and that there is a lot wrong with Brazilian football at present. The defence looked completely clueless and the forward play did not look a whole lot better.

Within 16 minutes Brazil were two goals down and I got the distinct impression that the Dutch were content to back off. Although the Brazilians toiled hard, without Neymar they lack any sort of creative spark, although I have to admit that the referee did not have a good game.

For the two international managers there are sharply contrasting futures. Brazil's Scolari will undoubtably resign, but the damage to his 2002 winning legacy has been done. For van Gaal Manchester United beckons and he ended on a winning note.

It all started promisingly for Brazil as there was so much pre-match emotion, especially when Neymar took his place amongst the substitutes. The singing of the National Anthem made the hairs stand on the back of the neck, as the singing continued long after the music had stopped.

That was as good as it got for Brazil, as within two minutes van Persie had played Robben through and Silva desperately pulled him back. It seemed to be outside the area - just, but surely Silva had to go, as it was clearly a goal scoring opportunity. No, instead the referee pointed to the spot and waved a yellow card at Silva. Bizarre. Van Persie then gave a masterclass in how to take a penalty and the ball was dispatched into the top right corner of the net without any drama.

The predictable then happened, with Brazil pushing forward for an equaliser and the Dutch caught them on the counter attack, proving the Brazilians had learnt nothing from the previous loss. The inept and hapless David Luiz attempted to head a cross from De Guzman, which he would have been better advised to leave. The ball didn't even get out of the penalty area, but landed at the feet of Daley Blind, who gratefully buried it into the net, past the despairing dive of Julio César.

Just over a quarter of an hour gone and two goals down, the Brazilian fans started to amuse themselves by doing Mexican waves.

Amazingly the Brazilian team pulled themselves together for a while, but only until Oscar collided with Blind in the Dutch Penalty Area and it looked a certain penalty. The referee instead booked Oscar for simulation and that seemed to knock the stuffing out of them.

The third Dutch goal by Wijnaldum in time added on, seemed like a final twist of the knife in the already dead body of Brazilian football. van Gaal and the Dutch team go home with their heads held high, the Brazilians will have to look at what is wrong, rather than to point fingers.

channonite