Netherlands 2 - 0 Brazil
Not much to say here. It was a good match, real world-cup level excitement. Netherlands played a better game. As for Brazil's underwhelming performance, I blame Dunga. I realize there were some messy plays in the first half, but I don't understand Dunga's exaggerated display of anger and frustration. I think visions of fortune and glory went to his head. Even after Robinho scored the first goal of the match, Dunga didn't seem happy. The Brazilian players were feisty and unruly, which is very uncharacteristic of them. Lots of shouting from Robinho and Maicon, which would have earned them yellow cards from some of the more volatile refs we've seen in the tournament. Japanese ref Yuichi Nishimura played it calm and cool--and sharp. He didn't fall for theatrics or miss any fouls.
Halftime came and I wondered what words of wisdom Dunga would have for his team. Something told me it wouldn't be an uplifting halftime speech but a demanding, overly confident one. I think my suspicions may have been correct. Why else would Brazil come out from a half-time lead acting so rough and tough? Melo's red card was the end of it, even though the team didn't play much worse without him. But it summed up the whole performance, they were more focussed on getting into trouble than moving up to the semifinals.
In the end, it was Wesley Sneijder's match. The 5'7" player knows how to score. Also maybe I'm being too hard on Brazil, here's what Kaka had to say about it.
Uruguay v Ghana
When Uruguayan hands illegally blocked a goal from Ghana--a last-minute goal that would have catapulted the team into the semifinals against the Netherlands--the weight of the entire continent of Africa fell upon Asamoah Gyan's shoulders, as he braced himself to face the blessing and curse of a penalty kick.
Gyan nobly stepped up to the ball and gave it his best shot. The ball scudded past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, who dropped into fetal position out in front of the goal area, then deflected hard off the top bar of the goal. With that, the Uruguayan team erupted with joy as a stunned Muslera shouted praises to the white bar that did his job for him. But the image that would sear itself into the memories of viewers is that heartbreaking moment when Gyan, seeing the ball ricochet off the bar, shielded his eyes, like a blinded Icarus, in inconsolable grief.
For Uruguay, the missed shot was a second chance at life. For Ghana, which would lose the ensuing shoot out, it was the first terrible pang of a drawn-out death. Nonetheless it was a spectacular run for Ghana. As the only African team to have risen to the quarterfinals in this roguish and unpredictable, champion-expelling World Cup, there is far more victory to behold in Ghana's performance than defeat. And if ever there was a hero to look up to, Asamoah Gyan, Ghana's fallen Icarus, is already working on building a better pair of wings for 2014.
So, did the best team win this match? Or, did a lesser one slide by, by forcing a technical foul that nullified a match-winning goal? As for the so-called penalty kick, it really only served to penalize Ghana, which was forced to reenact, on the spot, what essentially had already been achieved.
Uruguay will have a chance to redeem itself of any doubts about its worthiness as contenders, on Tuesday, when it stands up against the Netherlands, a team that has proven itself to be an indomitable juggernaut in this competition. I'm extremely anxious to see how Uruguay will do. Though Forlan has been one of the most exciting players to watch in this World Cup, one man does not make a team, especially in soccer, a game that has the words E pluribus unum etched across its soul. Guess we'll see on Tuesday, if those words ring true for Uruguay as well.
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