World Cup 2010: Magnificent Dutch Revival, as Brazilians Self-Destruct

Holland and Brazil faced each other in the quarterfinals, and the footballing world was eager to witness two footballing giants face off. With Brazil as the favorites to win the tournament, many expected the Dutchmen to pack their bags and exit the World Cup and go home.

It was expected to be a cagey affair, it was expected to be intense, marvelous, and breath taking.

While it wasn't exactly the greatest game witnessed in World Cup history, it was a great game nevertheless. Indeed the Dutch haven't been playing total football as much as they used to, and Dunga has been criticized for abandoning the samba style game displayed by the Brazilian teams of yonder for a more straight forward game of football.

However, it was the Brazilians who were looking confident on the ball, and it looked like Oranje were going to go home after witnessing some moments of Brazilian brilliance.

Brazil were dominant at the start of the game, and scored a goal through Robinho that was ruled as offside. Replays proved that it was indeed the correct decision, where Dani Alves was just ahead of the Dutch defence.

The Netherlands' defence was haphazard at the beginning of the game, with Felipe Melo exposing the Dutch defence with a brilliant pass to Robinho, and Robinho's shot bounced off the ground to get in the back of the net to give Brazil the lead at only the 10th minute of the game.

Already it looked like the Brazilians were going to cruise in this one, and looked destined to end Holland's 23 match unbeaten run, and end Bert van Marwijk's record of never losing in the World Cup.

The fact that Joris Mathijsen was replaced by Andre Ooijer in the 11th hour, who turns 36 on the World Cup Final, made things even harder for the Dutch, as they conceded in the first 10 minutes of the game. Brazil were far more comfortable, with a 36-year-old defender playing against Kaka, Fabiano, and Robinho, things didn't look too good for the Dutch.

For a team to beat Brazil, they need to have a truckload of talent, technique, an unparalleled mentality that could handle the pressure, especially after conceding in the first 10 minutes, and perhaps most of all, luck.

And those were exactly the components provided by the Dutch when they faced the Brazilians. In a previous article it was stated that Holland needed to show mental strength, for they are known for choking on the biggest stage when it matters the most. But this time, however, they were verily strong mentally, and their resilience today was a corroboration for their mental strength, for coming back from behind to beat the favorites is a tremendous achievement in its own right.

The game changing moment wasn't necessarily when Felipe Melo scored the own goal, it was definitely when Brazil made the best build-up play in the tournament thus far, and forced Maarten Stekelenburg to make what is considered, without a shadow of a doubt the finest save in the tournament . The ball seemed destined to be in the back of the net, and destined to end Oranje's dream of reaching the semifinals, but Stekelenburg proved to be a truly talented goalkeeper.

It was that moment in time that truly saved Holland from crashing out of the World Cup, and later on in the second half, it seemed that Felipe Melo had an unfortunate date with destiny.

Just when he was finally starting to prove doubters wrong, and to make the Brazilian fans forget about his dreadful campaign with Juventus, he became the villain in a matter of minutes, and seems to be on his way to being the most hated Brazilian since Barbosa and his errors in 1950 against Uruguay in the final.

Melo scored an own goal from a Wesley Sneijder cross in the 50th minute, and at that moment in time, Brazil started to collapse.

The Brazilian team pressed the self-destruct button, and the Dutch were in control of the second half.

The second goal was scored by none other than Sneijder. The most important figure in the Dutch squad thus far, Sneijder has taught the Brazilians and the rest of the teams remaining in the tournament to never underestimate a Dutch revolution, or they will pay the price.

Sneijder scored the goal against Brazil from a corner, and it was a header. He wasn't even considered a threat from set pieces mainly because of his height, and was barely even marked by the Brazilian team, and that proved costly in the end.

Dirk Kuyt flicked the ball from the near post and it was Sneijder who scored the goal that eliminated the five time world champions.

The catastrophic behaviour displayed by Felipe Melo didn't help the Brazilians either. They were down to 10 men because of his madness, after stomping Arjen Robben, who was able to get under the skin of the Brazilian team, and was one of the key factors resulting in Holland getting their revenge on the Brazilians, after being eliminated by them in 1994 and 1998. 

As it stands, Holland haven't exactly wowed the world with their style of play like they did in Euro 2008, but are currently looking to achieve the one thing that they have been craving for all these years, winning their first ever World Cup. And finally the Dutch look capable of going all the way this year.

And with the possibility that they might face either the Germans or the Argentinians in the final, should two of said three teams make it to the final, then the world really is in for a treat.

With the current belief in the squad, and with the current mentality displayed by the Dutch team, perhaps 2010 might be orange after all.