- July, 02 2010 -
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Today was a big shock for the Brazilians, who were favourites to win the World Cup and my favourites before the tournament started. They were playing really well in the first half and went 1-0 up - and it could have been 2 or 3. However, after the goalkeeper error in the second half Brazil lost their heads – they couldn’t handle the pressure and their character and discipline went out the window. It was intriguing to watch Brazil like this – as soon as they had to come from behind and were faced with adversity their temperament changed and they lost control. They were annoyed for having given away such a soft goal and they never recovered. On the other hand, the Netherlands - who were 1-0 down - never gave up. They kept their desire and never lost their discipline. Brazil were the better team and were playing well but when they gave away a disappointing first goal, it got worse for the second which they conceded from a set piece. There was still plenty of time for Brazil to recover and this was the most disappointing aspect of the defeat - they completely lost their composure which was demonstrated by the sending off of Felipe Melo for stamping on Arjen Robben with 17 minutes to go. Brazil failed to create another real chance for the remainder of the match. Of course it was an upset, but Holland are one of the top five teams in the world and at this stage in the World Cup the tops guys are going head to head with everyone hungry for a place in the final, so no match is a foregone conclusion.
It was a very disappointing match for Ghana who played really well in the first half. Even when in the second half Uruguay took control, Ghana were defending well. They played with a lot of togetherness, spirit, desire and determination and they can be proud of themselves. The phrase “no justice in football” will come to the fore as a result of this match, but then you have to take your chances and Ghana should have scored the penalty to secure the win. It was always going to be tough in the shoot-out because Uruguay had the momentum after Ghana missed their opportunity at the end of extra time.
So Uruguay will face Holland in the semi finals next week.
Tomorrow we have Argentina facing Germany and Spain will play Paraguay. I think Argentina has too much attacking strength for Germany and I expect Spain and Argentina to go through to face each other next week. Having said that, after what we’ve seen today, its clear anything can happen.
There’s still a chance that it will still be an all South American final although the odds have lengthened with Brazil’s departure.
