World Cup Game #53

As results go, I was happy to see Netherlands beat Slovakia 2-1, not because I have anything against Slovakia but because I think that the Dutch, on their day, can produce as exciting football as anyone can. As a bonus, my pick for player of the tournament, Arjen Robben, scored a beauty of a goal with a precisely hit shot in the bottom right corner of the goal, having worked his way past a couple of tackles. He didn't score again and eventually came off after about 70 minutes, looking a little sore and slow. While he was on the pitch, though, he had done what he was supposed to - tear up the Slovak left wing and pull their defence out of shape. Sadly, no other Dutch forward really stepped up and van Persie looked out of sorts in front of goal again. Eventually Sneijder scored the second goal. The Slovaks, for all their efforts, really didn't threaten the Dutch goal often and only scored from an undeserved penalty in the 90+4th minute of the game.

World Cup Game #54

Every time I see Brazil play in this tournament, they get better, playing with more confidence and assurance but, above all else, with more rhythm. This time it was Chile on the receiving end and the game ended 3-0 to Brazil - but it could have been 6 or 7 easily. The Chileans tried hard to hold out, playing a fairly defensive start to the game but Brazil attacked from the word go. It took half an hour or so for Brazil's first go but once that happened, the sting had gone from Chile. By the time Robinho scored the third from a beautifully curling shot, it was all over. There was a brief flurry from Chile in the last twenty minutes or so but it was too little too late.