This World Cup was supposed to be all about South American dominance and European decline. Friday's quarterfinal between Brazil and the Netherlands has largely chucked that narrative out the window. It certainly didn't look that way leading into the match. While the Dutch won all of their group stage games plus a decisive 2-1 round of 16 game against Slovakia, they never seemed to match the form of the much-hyped Oranje teams of old. Brazil, on the other hand, looked unbeatable after galloping past able dark horses Chile 3-0. It initially looked like the Netherlands would pay for its lack of form when defender André Ooijer lazily played a charging Robinho, who easily slotted the ball past keeper Maarten Stekelenburg to give Brazil a 1-0 lead. But after a Felipe Melo own-goal and a Wesley Sneijder set-piece header later, a once-composed Brazil began to play like a bunch of spoiled children on a present-less Christmas morning. It led to Melo stamping an admittedly collapsible Arjen Robben on the hamstring, earning him a red card, and a 2-1 loss for the five-time World Cup winners.
More importantly, the Dutch victory is now a part of World Cup history; up until Friday, Brazil went undefeated in a total of 42 World Cup matches held outside of Europe. The last time Brazil lost a non-European World Cup match was in 1950, when Uruguay stunned Brazil at the Maracanã stadium with a — you guessed it — 2-1 come-from-behind win, giving the Uruguayans their second World Cup title.
I guess they can run that ad now.
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