Brazil vs Netherlands live scores, odds, results, teams – Soccer, Football FIFA World Cup 2014

The play off for third place in the World Cup 2014 features two teams that have been less than most expected, and in other ways so much more. For the Oranje, its a familiar tale of woe, a story of slipping up at the final hurdle, the very same thing having happened at three previous world cups. Coincidence?

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They will be hoping so. That’s not to say that the Dutchmen haven’t played some exciting football. Indeed, their brand of total control was never more evident than when they sent the current world champions Spain packing with one of the most dominant displays of possession football seen at a Word Cup in many years. For Brazil’s part, it has been a tale of tears and high emotions, as the pressure of such an occasion has regularly told, with the younger Brazilians regularly collapsing into tears under the weight of their country’s historically justified expectations. And tears there were in abundance, when a raging, rampant Germany display embarrassed the Selecao, lashing in no less than seven goals to leave the Golden Squad completely flabberghasted. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari could do nothing except hang his head, mumbling “That was the worst day of my life”.

Thiago Silva returns to the Brazil eleven today after missing the 7-1 thrashing by the Germans through suspension. Scolari will supposedly rotate the squad today to try and ensure some pride remains intact, while in the Dutch camp Louis Van Gaal will also rotate to ensure that all of his players register World Cup starts with Michael Vorm being the only one of the Oranje squad who hasn’t yet featured. Van Gaal has written off today’s encounter as something of an inconvenience and no less than a waste of time. This fixture has historically been nothing more than a way of whetting the watching fans’ appetites ahead of the final, however Van Gaal sees it as an irrelevance saying: “There is only one award that counts and that is becoming world champions. The worst thing is that there is a chance you are going to lose twice in a row.
And in a tournament in which you have played so marvellously well you go home as a loser.” The Oranje did show what they were capable of by dismantling Spain 5-1, however their performances gradually tailed off, seemingly making a meal of it in the following knockout games.

The Brazilians for their part have found it hard to even find goals this year, with their talismanic captain Thiago Silva seemingly goal shy alongside their wunderkind Neymar, who, while putting in some decent displays and showing glimpses of what he is capable of, ultimately failed to set the finals on fire. Perhaps he, and the squad as a whole were victims of too much expectation and too much pressure, given that the Selecao are already five-time world champions. The weight of expectation was increased substantially however, thanks to the fact that Brazil are this years’ hosts. A case of “a lesson learned” on the part of the Selecao and the fans.

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