Brazil heads into their quarter final match against Netherlands on 2 July 2010 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Both teams are favorites in the tournament. It looks to be a nervy affair for both sides; still there are elements which could make it a memorable fixture in the history of football.
Time
The match kicks off at 14:00 GMT and local time 16:00. As per Brazil time, the match starts at 11:00, while according to Netherlands time, the match begins at 16:00. In the US, the match begins in New York time at 10:00 and in California time at 07:00.
Live Score
To get the live score of the match, visit the following link:
http://www.soccerstand.com/
The last time Brazil faced the Dutch was in 1999 when the friendly affair ended in a 2-2 draw. Their last meeting in a World Cup came in 1998 in France when Brazil won the affair 4-2 in penalty shootout after 1-1 stalemate following 120 minutes of play.
Brazil defeated Netherlands 3-2 in the previous World Cup as well. However, Brazil lost to Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands 2-0 in the 1974 World Cup. Overall, in their previous 9 meetings, Brazil won 3 times, Netherlands twice and 4 other matches ended in draw.
It is true that Brazil could not show their dominating performance so far in the tournament, even though their passage to this far was not thorny. However, one can say that Brazil’s performance against Portugal without their star midfielder Kaka was pretty much impressive.
Brazil started their campaign with a 2-1 tepid victory over North Korea, before a 3-1 win over Ivory Coast. They finished the group stage with a goalless draw with Portugal which ensured their top place in Group G. Brazil reached the quarter final after defeating Chile 3-0 in the round of 16.
Netherlands started dominating from the very beginning of their World Cup mission. The Dutch side won all of their 3 group stage matches, a feat they have achieved for the first time in World Cup. As the Group E champion, Netherlands defeated Slovakia 2-1 in the last 16.
The hot temper of Kaka has become a new worry for the Samba Kings. The Brazilian playmaker was shown red card against Ivory Coast for charging his elbow to an Ivorian player and missed the Portugal match. Even in the Chile match, Kaka received a yellow card for a needless tackle, even though Brazil was 3-0 ahead in the match. It looks Kaka is now frustrated for not being at his best in the World Cup.
Brazil has some serious injury problems. Right-sided midfielder Elano would miss the fixture with injury, while defensive midfielder Felipe Melo is uncertain for the affair. The suspension of Ramires has aggravated the crisis as he was deputizing for Melo.
Dani Alves would continue playing at the right side of the midfield in the absence of Elano, while Josue or Kléberson could come in the starting line up if Melo can not fully recover from the injury.
Dutch attack features Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie who all could form a force fearful enough for any defense. In the presence of Kaka, Robinho and Luis Fabiano, Brazil also has a very good attacking line up which could be assisted by wingback Michel Bastos.
The interesting thing is that both teams play similar style of football and coaches of both sides follow a pretty much similar formation. Both teams form a four-man defense shielded by two defensive minded midfielders with four attacking-minded players operating in attack.
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