Even though Louis van Gaal’, the Netherlands head coach was uber dismissive towards the third-place play-off fixture this week, fans could have been forgiven for expecting Brazil to triumph over a side whose mind was already elsewhere.
However it took just three minutes for any such thoughts to be thrown out the window as Thiago Silva fouled Arjen Robben to concede a penalty and hand Robin van Persie the chance to open the scoring.
Daley Blind added a second after 20 minutes and the game was over. The Netherlands may have the second youngest squad at the World Cup but they gave Brazil a lesson in organisation. The Selecao, for all their legitimate appeals for a penalty themselves, rarely looked like testing Jasper Cillessen in the Dutch goal.
Brazil’s supporters had lost patience by the end of the tie. Some had chosen to leave early while those that remained chose to voice their displeasure at the ineptitude of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side.
By the time that Georginio Wijnaldum added a third for a Dutch side that had barely shown an interest in adding to Brazil’s woes in the second half, the pain was complete. Louis van Gaal was able to bring on Michel Vorm in goal to ensure that all 23 men in his squad had appeared at the competition and Brazil left to reflect on 10 goals conceded in two games.
Boos and jeers predictably greeted the final whistle.
“We haven’t ended the competition well,” Scolari said, according to FIFA.com. “We had the impression that it was going to be a very even game, but we conceded an early goal and that tipped the balance in their favour.”
