NETHERLANDS 3 BRAZIL 0
Brazil’s World Cup humiliation was completed on Saturday as the host nation fell 3-0 to the Netherlands in the World Cup third-place match in Brasilia.
The Dutch took an early lead in the opening 15 minutes with goals from Robin van Persie and Daley Blind, and never looked back as they cruised past a lackluster Brazilian side. Georginio Wijnaldum scored a third goal in the dying moments of the contest to add to the Europeans’ lead and the Brazilians’ shame.
Netherlands went ahead after just three minutes when Thiago Silva brought down Arjen Robben in the penalty area. Van Persie converted his spot kick for his fourth goal of the tournament. Blind doubled the Dutch lead in the 16th minute by capitalizing on a failed clearance by Brazil’s David Luiz and then burying a shot from close range.
Throughout the match, the Brazilians failed to register much attacking punch and drew constant boos from the home crowd. In the 69th minute, Brazil appeared to earn a penalty when Oscar was brought down by Blind, but referee Djamel Haimoudi—who officiated the Belgium vs. U.S. Round of 16 match—drew yellow for the Brazilian attacker, awarding the tournament’s first yellow card for simulation.
In the waning moments of the match, Wijnaldum got on the end of substitute Daryl Janmaat’s cross to score Netherland’s third goal of the match.
The Netherlands finish in the World Cup top three for the fourth time in their history and do so without losing a single game.
There’s just one match left in the 2014 FIFA World Cup as Argentina take on Germany at the world-famous Estadio Maracana at 1:00 p.m. PT in the World Cup final. The Argentinians are 1-1 in finals against the Germans with the match being a rematch of the 1986 (Argentina win) and 1990 (Germany win) finals.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
