Two teams widely considered to have a shot at winning it all moved on to the quarter finals today with Brazil trouncing Chile and the Netherlands ending the Cup dreams of Slovakia. For the Dutch the day began in a positive fashion with Arjen Robben getting his first start since injuring his hamstring in a pre-tournament friendly. With the Dutch team known for its crisp passing and team play the addition of Robben gives them an X Factor they have been missing. Robben is the one player from Holland that is known to take on opposing players on a consistant basis instead of relying on his passing to get him out of trouble. It took just 18 minutes for him to prove his worth as he received an outlet passabout 35 yards from goal he took it outside and then cut back in, beating two defenders and fired a powerful strike off his left foot into the near corner of the net. A piece of great teamwork later in the match would produce the other Dutch goal of the foot of Wesley Sneijder and Slovakia’s lone goal came on the final kick of the match thanks to a PK. The PK goal would put Robert Vittek in the record books as the top goal scorer in Slovakian history. It should also serve as a wake up to the Dutch about how fast a comfortable lead can change to a nail biter. They got lucky this time, I doubt their next opponent will be so kind.
And speaking of their next opponent, Brazil looked dominate today against a clearly out matched Chile. The Men in Yellow scored twice in a five minute stretch to take control of the game and it was never in doubt after that. A third goal would help seal the deal in the 59th minuet as Ramirez intercepted a pass at the midfield line and took it all the way to the top of the box, beating three defenders, before slotting it to Robinho who buried his second goal of the night. All in all a typical win for a team that has to be considered the favorites at this point of the Cup.
One team that would disagree with that would be Spain who will match up against Portugal tomorrow for a chance to claim their own spot in the Quarter Finals.







