Host nation Brazil’s miserable run of form at the World Cup continued with a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in the third-place playoff in Brasília on Saturday afternoon.
Any hopes of Brazil saving face at its own party evaporated within two minutes, when Thiago Silva pulled down Arjen Robben on the edge of the area. Silva, who missed the 7-1 semifinal rout against Germany through suspension and was supposed to bring stability to a shaky Brazilian backline, was lucky only to receive a yellow card for the foul. Robin van Persie made no mistake with the penalty, firing his spot kick past Júlio César into the top corner.
It got worse quickly. Playing a high line that invited counterattacks from the Dutch, the Brazilians went 2-0 down in the 16th minute when David Luiz headed Jonathan De Guzman’s cross straight to Netherlands defender Daley Blind, who had time and space to control and volley past Júlio César.
The Dutch comfortably defended a two-goal cushion against a ramshackle Brazilian offense for which long balls and crosses, not skill, were the order of the day. Brazil attacked without purpose or intelligence; it was no surprise when Georginio Wijnaldum fired home a shot between Júlio César and the near post after some good work by Robben and Daryl Janmaat in stoppage time.
Dutch coach Louis van Gaal will now leave the team to take over managerial duties at England’s Manchester United. The future of his Brazil counterpart, Luiz Felipe Scolari, is far less certain.
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