Day 3 of the Round of 16

Monday, June 28, 2010


Match 53
Durban
Netherlands 2 – 1 Slovakia
Place watched: Tape delay – Living room, Olathe, KS

I eagerly looked forward to watching this match after work today. The Netherlands had not impressed in this tournament, but have quietly gotten the job done. I fully expected them to turn on the jets and blow through Slovakia like they blew through their qualifying group. They were not in an easy qualifying group, yet had won all 8 of their matches.

Furthering this expectation was the return of Arjen Robben, their offensive juggernaut. He had entered their last group match late in the game, but was now poised to make his first start. Wesley Sneijder had played well in the first round, but needed his creative side-kick to maximize his effectiveness.

The Dutch maintained a decent amount of possession in this match, but, again, did not look overly impressive in their win. Robben scored the first goal on a nice bit of individual brilliance. Sneijder added another in the 84th minute, which was fortunate for Holland since Slovakia won a penalty in stoppage time.

Even with conceding the late goal, it appears that the Dutch are coasting into their next match where they play the winner of either Brazil or Chile… The coming match will test them to the fullest.


Match 54
Johannesburg
Brazil 3 – 0 Chile
Place watched: Tape delay – Living room, Olathe, KS

So the lesson learned from this match is that it takes a South American team to beat a South American team. Up until this point, all 5 CONMEBOL teams advanced to the knock-out stage and all but one has gone through to the quarter-finals.

Brazil looked confident and lethal, as they always do. The 3 goals were all nice, and Chile rarely threatened on the other end. They will be tough to beat!

Wow, the quarter-final match ups are looking quite tasty. Either of the Germany / Argentina or Brazil / Holland games could be finals. Uruguay / Ghana is an intriguing match, with the winner playing either Brazil or Holland. The United States may be out, but there is plenty of good soccer yet to come!