<em><strong>The Oranje came from a goal down to sink the Samba Boys 2-1 in a thrilling encounter and became the first team to book a semi-final berth. Felipe Melo’s unfortunate own goal cancelled out Robinho’s early strike, before Wesley Sneijder hammered the final nail in the Brazilian coffin.</strong></em> <p style="text-align: justify;">The eagerly anticipated encounter lived up to the pre-match hype with both sides displaying some delightful football. As early as in the third minute, the tone of the match was set right, with the attacking intent showed by both the teams. Within the next couple of minutes, few rough challenges from both sets of players served a warning to the Japanese referee <em>Yuichi Nishimura</em> that he must restrain the on-field nuisance with some strict whistling.</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/sports-news-july-2010/image/9274829?term=netherlands+v+brazil" target="_blank"><img title="Sports News - July 02, 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9274829/sports-news-july-2010/sports-news-july-2010.jpg?size=380&imageId=9274829" border="0" alt="July 02, 2010 - 06118939 date 02 07 2010 Copyright imago Sven Simon Final cheering v left Arjen seals NED above with Mark van Bommel NED and Dirk Kuyt NED Netherlands NED Brazil BRA Quarter-finals Round of 8 FIFA World Cup 2010 02 07 2010 Football World Cup 2010 in of 11 06 11 07 2010 Port Elizabeth Football men World Cup National team international match Quarter-finals Vdig xub 2010 vertical Highlight premiumd." width="380" height="571" /></a> <em>Arjen Robben: the flying Dutchman</em></div> <script src="http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js" type="text/javascript"></script> However, it was Brazil that implanted its dominance on the game early on. <em>Robinho</em> had made the ball go past <em>Stekelenburg</em>’s goal-line in the sixth minute, but the linesman correctly waived the offside flag. The deadlock was eventually broken in the 10<sup>th</sup> minute, when <em>Fellipe Melo</em> produced a delicious defense-splitting through ball from the halfway line for <em>Robinho</em>, who beat the Dutch offside trap to slot the ball past a helpless <em>Stekelenburg,</em> to give Brazil a deserved lead. Netherlands shook off the early nerves and responded almost immediately through <em>Dirk Kuyt</em>, but the shot lacked venom to trouble <em>Julio Cesar</em>. Brazil could have doubled their lead in the 25<sup>th</sup> minute, but <em>Juan</em> wasted the opportunity by firing the ball well over the cross-bar, from a decent position. Around the half-hour mark, <em>Robinho</em> squeezed past three markers on the left wing to lay the ball for <em>Luis Fabiano</em>. In a wonderful display of silk-touch passing, <em>Fabiano</em> flicked the ball to an unmarked <em>Kaka</em> at the edge of the box, but the Brazilian playmaker’s excellent curling effort was palmed away brilliantly by <em>Stekelenburg</em>. Sensing urgency, Netherlands pushed forward in search of a goal with just five minutes remaining in the first half. <em>Arjen Robben</em> was looking lively and menacing with his bagful of tricks. <em>De Jong</em> and <em>Robben</em> combined well on the right wing, but an alert Brazilian defence averted the possible danger. Brazil immediately launched a sensational counter attack, but <em>Maicon</em>’s final effort could only find the side netting. The action-packed first-half came to an end and Netherlands went into the lemon break with a tough task ahead of them, in preserving their record run of 23 unbeaten matches. The <em>Oranje</em> started off the second half brightly and pressed the Brazilian defence in search of an equalizer. Within five minutes of continuous pressure, the mighty Brazilian defence relented. <em>Julio Cesar</em>, who had not been truly tested thus far, misjudged a <em>Wesley Sneijder</em> teasing cross from the right, only to find <em>Fellipe Melo</em> unfortunately head the ball into his own net. <a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/sports-news-july-2010/image/9274137?term=netherlands+v+brazil" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0px;" title="Sports News - July 02, 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9274137/sports-news-july-2010/sports-news-july-2010.jpg?size=380&imageId=9274137" border="0" alt="July 02, 2010 - 06118852 date 02 07 2010 Copyright imago Netherland s Wesley Sneijder Celebrates Scoring His sides Winning Goal FIFA World Cup 2010 Quarter Finals Netherlands v Brazil 2nd July 2010 PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK Port Elizabeth Football men World Cup National team international match Quarter-finals cut out Single Action shot Vdig xub 2010 Square Highlight premiumd." width="380" height="319" /></a><em> Sensational Sneijder: inspirational as always</em> <script src="http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <p style="text-align: justify;">After getting the deserved equalizer, the Dutch kept attacking with renewed vigour. The hard effort got rewarded in the 67<sup>th</sup> minute of play when <em>Sneijder</em> headed home an <em>Arjen Robben</em> corner, after the ball was flicked on by <em>Kuyt</em>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Proceedings were not looking good for the five time champions and Melo <em>made</em> the matters further complicated by getting himself sent off for stamping on <em>Robben</em>. Up against a ten men Brazilian side, Netherlands took complete reigns of midfield battle and unleashed a series of attack down the right wing. <em>Sneijder</em> came close to doubling the Dutch lead with ten minutes to go for the final whistle, but <em>Kuyt</em> took one touch too many in the final delivery and <em>Cesar</em> prevented the danger.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Five minutes from elimination, Brazil, in a last ditch attempt to set the scores level, went all out in attack. Their effort produced a series of corners resulting in some nervy clearances from the Dutch defense, but the determined <em>Oranje</em> held their fort firmly and the <em>Samba</em> magic came to an abrupt end this time around.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TheHardTackle’s Player Of The Match</strong>: <em>Arjen Robben (Netherlands)</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Bayern Munich winger was a livewire on the pitch. He not only assisted Sneijder with a measured delivery to set up the second goal, but also helped to open up a lot of space for his team-mates to explore. Moreover, <em>Robben</em>’s trickery got <em>Melo</em> sent off at a very crucial juncture and even forced Dunga to substitute Bastos, in an endeavour to prevent his player from receiving a second yellow.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Other Key Performers:</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands):</em> Set up the first goal with a deceiving delivery and scored the second. He was influential and combined well with <em>Robben</em> to win the key midfield battle against the Brazilian holding midfielders.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Maartin Stekelenburg (Netherlands)</em>: Produced a superb reflex save to deny <em>Kaka</em> in doubling Brazil’s lead, in the first half. Dealt decently with the crosses and looked confident. He cannot be blamed for <em>Robinho</em>’s goal, as he was completely exposed by his defenders.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Robinho (Brazil): Robinho</em> was Brazil’s top performer of the night. Besides scoring Brazil’s first goal with a perfectly timed run, <em>Robinho</em> was a continuous threat for the Dutch defence throughout the match.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TheHardTackle’s Referee Report Card: </strong><em>Yuichi Nishimura (Japan) - Grade: C </em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Confused, tensed and baffled by the occasion – the Japanese official had a night to forget. He could not distinguish between <em>hard tackles</em> and bad<em> tackles</em>, as he failed miserable to protect the ball players from rash challenges. He could not spot shameful play-acting and was unsuccessful to curb continuous swearing and indecent gestures, from Maicon and Robinho in particular.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>--------------------------------</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>MATCH STATISTICS NETHERLANDS 2-1 BRAZIL</strong> Venue: Nelsen Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 40186</p> <strong><em>Netherlands line-up</em></strong>: (4-2-3-1): Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Ooijer, Van Bronckhorst; Van Bommel, De Jong; Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt; Van Persie (Huntelaar 85’) <strong>Cautions: </strong>Heitinga (14’), Van der Wiel (47’), De Jong (64’), Ooijer (76’) <strong>Sent offs: </strong>None <strong>Scorers: </strong>Sneijder (67’) <strong><em>Brazil line-up</em></strong>: (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Juan, Bastos (Gilberto Melo 62’), Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo; Alves, Kaka, Robinho; Luis Fabiano (Nilmar 77’) <strong>Cautions: </strong>Bastos (37’) <strong>Sent offs: </strong>Melo (73’) <strong>Scorers: </strong>Robinho (10’), Melo (53’) [OG]