Brazil’s Meltdown Continues After 3-0 Loss to the Dutch

Brazil looks on, unsure of what the future holds for them after a messing ending to their World Cup campaign.

Get your stopwatches and calenders ready folks. We’re going to mark down the number of days until Brazil finally gets their first win because from the looks of it, A Selecao won’t be finding it soon enough. This was a consolation match where the result wasn’t supposed to matter, except it did. The 3-0 loss to the Netherlands was a painful dagger to Brazil’s World Cup campaign after getting hacked to bits by Germany in the semifinal. Coming off a humiliating 7-1 loss to Die Mannschaft, Brazil was looking for any sort of redemption to ensure their fans that they’re not as bad as they seem. Unfortunately, the loss to the Dutch only solidified the claim that Brazil is a huge mess on the offensive and defensive end and lack any sort of organization and tactics to match up against the world’s best. Lets be honest, Brazil only made it to the semifinals because Neymar blanketed all the major holes in the team.

Robin Van Persie converts the penalty in the 3rd minute.

In spite of the suspect officiating in today’s match, Brazil didn’t look like the team that could unsettle the Dutch despite multiple counterattacking chances. Brazil opened up the match with hopes of shaking off the embarrassing loss and finishing the World Cup on a high note. Unfortunately, it only took only three minutes for Brazil to fall back into the depths of soccer hell as Thiago Silva was awarded a yellow card and gave up a penalty. Robin Van Persie held off Silva with his back and slipped a pass to a streaking Arjen Robben. Robben dribbled in the box, but Silva chased him down and dangerously pushed him from behind. Silva should have been awarded a red card, but the referee was merciful and let him pass with a yellow. Van Persie converted the penalty kick to make it 1-0.

Then in the 16th minute, David Luiz poorly headed out Jonathan De Guzman’s cross attempt, sending the ball to Daley Blind’s direction. With ample amount of space, Blind took two touches and sent the ball sailing to the top right of the net to make it 2-0 for the Dutch.

Attacking midfielder GeorginioWijnaldum completed Netherland’s thrashing over Brazil by scoring the third goal in the 90th minute. Daryl Janmaat played a low cross from the right of the box, which rolled directly to Wijnaldum’s right foot. Wijnaldum took the shot on his first touch and drilled it past a diving Julio Cesar, making it 3-0 to end the match.

Netherlands can hold their heads high and envision their future after impressive showings by their young players like Daley Blind, Bruno Martins Indi, Georginio Wijnaldum, Leroy Fer, Jaspar Cillesson and Jordy Clasie throughout the tournament. Led by world class veterans Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands played beyond their expectations as most people expected them to crash out to Spain and Chile in the group stages. There are a lot of encouraging things to take from this tournament heading into the 2016 Euros.

Meanwhile, Brazil needs to recuperate and figure out how to rebuild the national team program. When Felipe Luis Scolari looked like one of the guys in those Cialis ads who found out he had erectile dysfunction, it appeared that Brazil’s future from here on out only meant dispair. Jogo Bonito isn’t dead, but Brazil’s current pool of talent is lackluster. At certain moments of the match, the camera zoomed in on Neymar’s face, which appeared far beyond saddened and into the realms of skepticism. He knows his teammates (except for Oscar) are terrible and once he returns from injury, it’ll be up to him to carry the national team on his back for the rest of his life. This narrative has become eerily similar to Cristiano Ronaldo’s, which is pretty tragic.

Blind celebrates his goal in the 17th minute.

Man of the Match

Daley Blind was pretty efficient on the offensive and defensive end. He defended his flank at ease and brought the ball up on the attack, while making smart decisions on the offensive end. He made the right passes and positioned himself in the correct spots, ultimately being in the right place to score that well-earned goal.

Tweets of the Match