Brazil eased into the quarterfinals with a dominating win over a good Chile side that suddenly looked over-matched in every respect. Rarely sweating, Brazil made a strong statement about its World Cup ambitions with an imposing style of physical play, demonstrating again that under Dunga jogo bonito is history and jogo fuerte is the new beautiful.
It was not an especially spectacular match. Brazil was hardly tested and showed only glimpses of lively, attacking futebol. Chile was unable to create much against the stifling Brazilian defense, but also played too timidly, reaffirming an old psychological complexity against their giant neighbors. Still, Chile exited the tournament after an impressive group stage performance, with a lot to be proud of and a solid team to go forward with. The most critical task for Chile will be holding on to their Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa, who has done very well and may or may not stay. If he goes, Chile needs a respectable presence to step in and, coincidentally, Chile’s most prestigious coach, Manuel Pellegrini, is very much available having just been relieved of duties at Real Madrid.
Brazil will take on Holland next, an exceptional encounter worthy of a tournament final. In the day’s most entertaining match, without shining, Holland did enough to get past a dangerous Slovakia who, on a luckier day, might have complicated the Dutch easy path to the last 8 more severely. Though Holland dominated on the whole, Slovakia played well in the second half and missed three golden opportunities to get even. The late consolation goal cooled out a fired up Slovakian side that had been angry with the refereeing. In the end there were no complaints. Holland advanced, Slovakia proved that it belonged, respect.
Dunga's fierce tackling helped knock out a brilliant Holland in 1994. Will history repeat itself?
Like Brazil, the Orange Machine is not cranking at full speed yet, but every Dutch player will need to be at his best to challenge the Brazilian defense. Robben, van Persie, Snejder and van Bommel can expect to take a beating and must rise up physically to withstand the Brazilian clash. The Dutch will be ready. The only sign of concern is van Persie’s ego-maniacal attitude. Without harmony and chemistry in the squad, the Dutch will have no chance. Van Persie displayed again his selfishness, worthy a hazing from the team’s elders. At the World Cup, at this stage, he better understand that he is just a component of a much bigger project. For all his talent, this is why Feyenoord gave up on van Persie when he was 18.
On the other side, Dunga must get better performances from Kaka and even Luis Fabiano, who scored yesterday, but was not on top of his game. Robinho also started the tournament in excellent form, but yesterday he was more anonymous. Brazil are the Inter of national teams – indeed Julio Cesar, Maicon and Lucio play for Inter. Juan is just as physical, as are Dani Alves, Gilberto Silva and Bastos. They can hammer an opponent into submission and find a scrappy way to win. A far departure from the Brasil of the 70s and 80s, but a system fully embraced by this group of players. Holland–Brazil, along with Argentina–Germany, two classics that should provide the most electrifying matches of the tournament.