Dutchmen tear up script, send Brazil packing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2010 (5938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was supposed to be the perfect team. A combination of skill, muscle and the occasional bit of flair.

Brazil — five times the World Cup winner — were not supposed to be beaten, could not be beaten, and would march unchallenged to a record sixth title. So went the script, and common sense did not oppose it.

Then there was the history, on Brazil’s side as usual. They had won their previous two World Cup matches against The Netherlands — a 3-2 thriller in 1994 and a nail-biting semifinal that went to penalties in 1998. Both times Brazil went on to play in the final, the Dutch merely a necessary obstacle to overcome.

Friday’s quarter-final between the two sides in Port Elizabeth was supposed to follow the same pattern. And it did, for 45 minutes.

Brazil was inspired from the get-go. They nearly went ahead in the opening moments when Robinho’s goal was rightfully ruled offside, but the Santos forward made amends after just 10 minutes, taking Felipe Melo’s sublime through-ball and finishing nicely past Maarten Stekelenburg.

The one-goal lead was carried into the break, although Brazil might well have scored one or two more. Such was their superiority. The way it was supposed to be.

The second half, however, was not about Brazil. It was not about Robinho’s resurgence, Lucio’s galloping runs or coach Dunga’s pragmatism. The Dutch side that emerged from the tunnel after the restart had taken the script, ripped it up and written an entirely new narrative, complete with new heroes and a surprise ending. Enter Wesley Sneijder.

The craftsman of Arjen Robben’s much-replayed goal against Slovakia in the Round of 16, Sneijder delivered a kick to Brazil’s cajones when his seeing-eye cross from well outside the 18-yard box was headed into the Brazil goal by Felipe Melo in the 53rd minute. It was a fortuitous moment for The Netherlands, and they took the initiative from there.

Their first half performance, which at the time appeared slothful, now seemed a patient confidence. But they were rewriting the script, and they made whatever revisions they chose.

The patience paid off for them in the 68th minute when Sneijder headed the Dutch into the lead. Brazil — trailing for the first time in the tournament — panicked, and Felipe Melo was issued a straight red card just five minutes later for stamping on Robben. From first-half hero to second-half goat. In the end, Felipe Melo served as a symbol of Brazil’s meltdown.

And what a meltdown. As soon as the game was tied, it looked only a matter of time before Brazil did themselves in. And the Dutch — ever patient and opportunistic — just waited for it to happen. They must have been as shocked as anyone to watch their opponents self-destruct.

Of course, they helped it along when they needed to. The tricky Robben drew constant fouls and was responsible for not only Felipe Melo’s exit, but that of Michel Bastos as well. A make-shift left-back, Bastos simply couldn’t handle Robben and picked up a booking before being substituted just after the hour-mark.

And then there was Sneijder. Involved in both Dutch goals, he picked the nervous Brazilian midfield apart with his passing, and made a crucial tackle on Kaka in the first minute of added time.

At the final whistle, the unthinkable. Like Joshua at Jericho, The Netherlands had patiently gone about their business as the Brazilian walls came tumbling down. No, it was not the expected result, but it was the right result. Vindication for ’94 and ’98, and a script rewritten, yet all the more compelling.

jerradpeters@gmail.com