Netherlands vs. Brazil

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2/7/10

Netherlands 2-1 Brazil

Goal Scorers: Robinho, Felipe Melo [own goal] and Wesley Sneijder

RED CARD: Felipe Melo

Brazil were playing beautifully in the first half. Fast, creative and so exciting. We all sighed happily, and rejoiced that the Samba was finally back. We had waited four years for this, four years to wear bright yellow t-shirts, four entire years to cheer when the team went through. There might be other teams, but there is always Brazil. We were entertained for only a half an hour, in four long years.

Robinho's first goal was glorious. Oh it was lovely. So utterly Brazilian. It was created by that entire team. The Dutch were lost. Then Felipe Melo scored an own goal. In the second half, Brazil lost their composure. Sneijder scored. They started fouling, Melo stamped his foot into that dude.

I don't care much about Holland, it does not break my heart when they lose. I thought I was over crying for this Brazilian team, but it seems I still have tears for them. Oh it is utterly outrageous. Oh Brazil!

The Dutch played well, they out ran them in that second half. I think Brazil were so stunned that they were losing, [their almost never losing] and they didn't know what to do. I so wish Kaka had scored some superb goals, I wish they had gone through.

Dunga resigned. Well he should have. Making them play all sorts of crazy soccer and not letting them be free. And, not bringing Ronaldinio to the World Cup.

This world cup is shocking!

Brazil vs Portugal

25/6/10 Moses Mabida Stadium, Durban

Brazil 0-0 Portugal

Brazil did not score, Portugal didn't bother, it was a painful and worse, boring match. I have not enjoyed the way the Samba boys have been playing anyway, way too many fouls and also so much defense. It is effective, but its not pretty. So, the Brazilians finished on top of the group, and Portugal came second.

Kaka's Red Card

The story of the match is another one full of exaggerated anger and deliberately scheming cheats who are out to get other people into trouble. This is all to do with Kaka’s red card. Keita ran into Kaka and then held his face with much angst.  The Brazilian was a victim of Keita’s so called near death and was then punished for being fouled.  

Ivory Coast played shameful soccer, and to accuse somebody of absolute innocence should be awarded with a suspension. Don’t they ever, ever get punished? The only person who gets a lot of attention when he does it is Cristiano. Otherwise all the corrupters out there are left to roam free while they destroy our world cup.

"It was a totally unjustified dismissal of Kaka, he was fouled and yet he was punished,"said Dunga with indignation.

"I won't make any comment about the red card,  I think all of you saw the image and everything else, so I have nothing further to say. The images are there for all to see and you are able to see what really happened."fumed Kaka after the game." 

Brazil vs Ivory Coast

20/6/10 Soccer City, Johannesburg

Brazil 3-1 Ivory Coast

Goal Scorers: Louis Fabiano [2 goals], & Drogba [IC]

RED CARD: Kaka

Brazil played fantastically. I loved how they got the goals, most especially the first one. It was complicated, woven through a mass of defenders, concentrated passes and a striking shot by Fabiano to finish it off. Kaka has to be the hero; he controls the ball and gets it to wherever it is supposed to be, and they finish it off with proud shouts. He is part of that old class of players, the golden age, with the real R’s. By the way, Ronaldo would have scored 10 goals, with the defenders enjoying the Brazilian footwork instead of doing their jobs.

Luis Fabiano is not such a good guy. He handballed that second goal, taking it oh so neatly from his arm, bringing it cleverly down and scoring. The referee should have seen that! I don’t know if these crazy referees are only there to make sure gamblers get their bids right. And Lucio is gone fat. Man, I miss that old team. I wish they were here, and I wish the Brazilians played pretty soccer.

Brazil dominated. In fact, even though everybody thought that this match was going to be an absolute cracker, filled with sides full of ability, the Ivoirians, even though they were not scattered, were just pushed out of the way. Drogba scored that last goal, boosting a bit of moral, but they are not even close to be thought of as serious contenders against the the real teams, both European and South American. 

WELL DONE BRAZIL! Go for Gold

Brazil vs North Korea

15/6/10 Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Weather: 3*

Brazil 2-1 N. Korea

Goal Scorers: Maicon, Elano [B] & Ji Yun-nam [N.K]

Air woven by the ball/a dance of golden boots/dribble by drum beat/let's play the beautiful game

Alright, that is my soft haiku, but I did expect them to play beautifully. I had my Brazilian T-shirt on, so sunny that it made me feel much happier and also warmer. I have also always wondered how cold it would be before the players had to wear gloves, and they were wearing gloves in Johannesburg, man, that was shocking! Oh, it was cold, it was let's stay in bed and watch the soccer cold. The fans shivered, hoping the Samba boys would dance the world warm, but the Brazilian boys were frozen.

Who taught them how to play soccer like that? I wished Ronaldinio was here, even if he could not blast the ball through those red soldiers so determined to defend, he could have shown us some tricks. Never mind that, they were actually rather sad and the Koreans were seriously playing football. They did not want to make mistakes, so they put the red army on the line and effectively kept the score line blank. Their confidence was highly impressive.

Kaka was not having his dream day, but I can understand because it was cold and besides he is a nice guy. Robinho has that characteristic Brazilian talent and flair, and made most of the opportunities in the game. Brazil took there their time and waited until the second half to score that wonderfully clever Maicon goal. There, finally, a Brazilian playing Brazilian soccer. I was astonished to see him cry, if anything, Korea should be proud that they made a star work so hard that he had to cry. Or maybe, it was just ice melting.

Robinho's sublime smooth as vanilla ice-cream pass that brought on the second goal, and Elano kicking it in neatly was lovely. I enjoyed this one more that the last. Then, N. Korea's Ji Yun-nam ran, beating the yellow shirts and scoring a pretty good goal. It also made it the first match where the losing team had actually scored a goal. Man, these Koreans are something.

The Group G's other three teams placed most of its wins against a tiny country, North Korea, who have not played for decades, and were suppose to trail after the players as they scored so many goals. No, they were not supposed to be good and so fell into the cradle of the small teams. Besides, tiny people do have some sort of trouble when playing soccer, they can't hold their tackles against giants and then can always just get pushed away, or out run, or jumped over. And so far S. Korea and Japan have done rather alright too. Brazil will go to the semis or the final, the others most probably not, but after some of the lackluster performances of the other teams, I do admire their courage.