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The Quadrennial Global Round-Ball Extravaganza

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Inlander:
Brazil looked to have got over the shock of going behind now, and it looks like the last ten minutes could be pretty full-on for the Dutch. Mind you, the Brazilian defence still looks a little shaky.

Inlander:
THE NETHERLANDS HAVE WON!!

Amazing. They had a couple of great chances in the last ten minutes to score a third goal, only to be denied by superb last-ditch tackles - but by then it was too late for Brazil to be defending well, because their defence had already let them down twice for two goals. The Netherlands have a couple of players who'll be suspended for the next match, and van Persie really needs to start just shooting at goal when he gets the ball instead of dithering over it (and he really needs to stop taking free kicks), but they'll have huge confidence and self-belief after this, and that can carry a team a long way. As for their performance in this game, I really liked the way they kept chasing after a third goal instead of just trying to defend their lead. Ballsy stuff.

StaedlerMars:
Yessss!

I was shocked to see Brazil crumble that badly once they weren't winning anymore. It felt like they were getting pretty riled up, and as a result lost control of the game for half an hour. By the time they recovered the Netherlands were just killing time.

I feel like Netherlands could have widened that gap a couple of times, but that they didn't really put enough effort into doing that.

Might turn out to still be a European final? I hope not, but I don't see much chance of either Ghana or Uruguay defeating one of the teams that has proven itself consistently good throughout this world cup, even if they will be down a couple of players.

Anyways, Argentina v. Germany tomorrow should be good.

Inlander:
Yeah, it was really amazing to see Brazil act like a third-tier team when things started going against them. Melo's stomp on Robben (I think?) to get sent off was extraordinary. Sense of entitlement, perhaps?

I'd really like to see Ghana keep going because I love watching African teams play, but I feel they've reached their level. Uruguay have been building quietly in the shadow of the bigger teams, much like the Netherlands, and they could go a long way. They've got World Cup pedigree - albeit a long, long time ago - and I doubt they'll fear any of the other teams. I'm still leaning towards either Argentina or Germany to win the tournament, though - and I'd be happy with either, as both teams have been playing with a real sense of joy and enthusiasm.

What's the other game? Paraguay and Spain? That seems like a pretty obvious result. Spain are another team that's building to a crescendo, I think. It seems like at this stage of the tournament we've got a lot of teams who've been pacing themselves nicely, and it all seems pretty even, and given that so many of the usual suspects are absent (Italy, France, now Brazil), for the neutrals such as myself this looks like being the best end-phase of a World Cup in ages.

E. Spaceman:
Man, I have to wonder if the Dutch simply did not cover "what do you do when you slipped through the defense" in their trainings. They had some incredible chances to score with which they did literally nothing; specially towards the very end when i think 3 strikers were basically alone in front of the keeper and... they passed and lost the ball?

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