Netherlands Topples Brazil to Advance

Starting defender pulling up lame in the pregame warm-up? Check.

Bickering teammates? Check.

Players diving to the ground looking for fouls? Check.

Trailing at halftime after conceding one of the softest goals of the 2010 World Cup? Check.

Any way you want to slice it, the Dutch were down and on their way out Friday at halftime of their World Cup quarterfinal against five-time champions Brazil.

Soccer, though, is a crazy game, and thanks to a couple moments of brilliance from the feet of Wesley Sneijder, the Netherlands walked away from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with a historic 2-1 upset.

After 45 minutes, the Netherlands were staring down at an early exit from the World Cup, at least by its standards. The mantle of proverbial "best team to never win the World Cup" would have to carry on for another four years.


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Brazil had made the Dutch look like a petulant bunch of spoiled professionals. The Dutch were going to ground at the slightest contact, yelling at each other and looking completely out of sorts.

Robinho's 10th minute goal -- set up by a long Route One pass up the middle from Felipe Melo from barely over the halfway line -- put the Dutch in full crisis mode. Mercurial winger Arjen Robben was yelling in the direction of the bench as he was the closest player to Robinho on the goal, instead of veteran defender Andre Ooijer, who was caught out of position far up field.

Ooijer was a last-minute replacement for ever-present Joris Mathijsen, who pulled up lame only a few minutes before the match began. Mathijsen had played every minute for the Dutch in qualifying.

Brazil could have put the Dutch further to the sword shortly after the first goal.

Again it was Robinho, dancing through tackles up the left sideline, centering the ball to Luis Fabiano, who flicked a one-touch pass to an on-rushing Kaka, who curled a shot destined toward the top corner, which Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg used all of his 6-foot-4 frame to tip away.

At halftime this looked to be a repeat of the 1994 quarterfinals when Brazil ousted the Netherlands 3-2 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, or the 1998 semifinals when Brazil knocked out the Oranje in penalty kicks in France.

Somehow, against every bit of conventional wisdom, the Dutch rallied thanks to a bizarre moment in the 53rd minute.

From the right channel outside the box Sneijder played in a high, arching ball into the penalty area. Brazil keeper Julio Cesar came out to punch it away, but missed. It skidded off the head of Melo and went into the back of the net to pull the game level at 1-1 for the Dutch.

Brazil immediately looked like the side playing without a rudder.

The Netherlands took over the game, held all the possession and eventually found their winner in the 68th minute. This time Sneijder could take full credit for the goal.

Robben played a corner to the near post, which Dirk Kuyt flicked with his head to the middle of goal. Somehow Sneijder -- all 5-foot-7 of him -- nodded it into the back of the net, capping an improbable comeback for the Netherlands, which saw out the match without any real threats from Brazil, aside from one scramble in front of goal that Stekelenburg smothered.

It's been quite the run for Sneijder, who is coming off a masterclass showing for Inter Milan in its run to the 2009-10 Champions League title. If the Dutch go on to win the Cup, he'll be the likely Golden Boot winner. Not bad for a player who was deemed surplus parts last summer at Real Madrid, when the club added Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka -- both now out of the World Cup.

Conversely, it all went wrong at the worst possible moment for Cesar -- Sneijder's teammate at Inter -- after being hailed as perhaps the top keeper in the world. His goalkeeping error brought back the old stereotype that the only weakness for Brazil was in net.

Cesar, though, won't wear the goat horns on the plane back to Brazil as much as Melo, who in addition to the own goal was sent off in the 70th minute for a hard challenge with Robben. It should be said Robben spent about as much time on the ground as he did upright Friday.

The Dutch extended their perfect World Cup to five straight wins, as well as nine overall in 2010. The Netherlands has now gone 24 matches unbeaten, dating back to September 2008, though none of the Oranje's opponents even approached the caliber of Brazil.

Runners up in 1974 and 1978 the Dutch now find themselves with a clear path to the July 11 final, getting the winner of Uruguay vs. Ghana later Friday.

The Dutch haven't exactly played the famed "Total Football" developed by those immortal teams of the 1970s, but they've played the modern game to near perfection. It's not the prettiest game in the world, but the Dutch took advantage of set pieces and some uncharacteristically sloppy Brazilian defending. It might not have been a work of art, aside from Sneijder's two moments, but it was enough to get the victory.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has also figured out a way to get most of his attacking talent onto the field at the same time, even if that means a sometimes unhappy Robin van Persie, who's only scored once, and keeping the talented Rafael van der Vaart on the bench.

Be sure to stay with FanHouse for complete coverage from South Africa, as columnist Kevin Blackistone and soccer editor Brian Straus will be on location for the duration of the tournament.

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World Cup Coverage
It is now Brazil that faces an unwelcome return home after being ousted in the quarterfinals for the second straight World Cup.

Four years ago in Germany it was French legend Zinedine Zidane dominating Brazil's collection of star talent that sent them home. Friday it was another midfield dynamo -- Sneijder.

The difference here is that there were warning signs all over Brazil's 2006 campaign, including trying to shoehorn Ronaldinho, Adriano, Ronaldo and Robinho into the same lineup. The massively attended public training sessions were also blamed.

Flash forward to 2010 and Dunga appeared to have built a defensive-minded team that would be nearly impossible to crack. This Brazil team seemed to have a quiet confidence, embodied by captain Lucio, that it would go about its business and get the job done.

But as soon as the ball skidded off Melo's head and into the goal, Brazil seemed to lose its composure. Kaka and Luis Fabiano were nearly non-existent at the end of the Brazil attack.

Suffice to say, those back in Brazil clamoring for a more classically-minded attacking Brazil team will have a field day skewering Dunga.

The irony Friday was that this match paired the two nations traditionally associated with playing aesthetically pleasing, attacking soccer.

Yet as the pitch got more-and-more torn up at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the game devolved into which team could keep its composure and find a way to grind out a result.

Winning ugly probably has never tasted any sweeter in the Netherlands.