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Day 12 of the FIFA World Cup brought to us the beginning of the business end of the World Cup. All good things come to an end and today was the beginning of the end of a fascinating group stage in this breath-taking event that has entertained us with goals galore, upsets to the max and soul fulfilling football.
The Samba comes to party at last
The eleven on the pitch re-kindled the dream in the hearts of the thousands in the stands and the further 200 million watching; from the coast to the Amazon basin.
After unconvincing performances against Croatia and Mexico, Brazil put the pedal to metal to romp to 4-1 victory over Cameroon.
The men in yellow were a joy to watch for everyone barring those cheering for Cameroon.
In spite of threatening early, Cameroon suffered their first setback with only 17 minutes in as Neymar tapped in Luis Gustavo’s low cross to give Brazilians the lead.
The Indomitable Lions were showing some fight in this one and Jöel Matip soon gave the Africans a reason to smile when he equalised for them in the 26th minute.
However, their joy was short-lived as Neymar scored his second just eight minutes later. The Barcelona forward’s impressive darting run was matched by his finish as he shot across his body to find Cameroon goalkeeper Charles Itandje on his wrong foot as the ball nestled into the back of the net.
Fred pushed the lead further for the Seleção just minutes into the second-half. David Luiz’s exquisite cross to the far post was met by the forward to put Brazil 3-1 up.
The icing on the cake was provided by Fernandinho. A brilliant toe-poke finish by the Manchester City midfielder put the game to bed and the crowd to raptures in the 84th minute.
Mexico makes it through
In a decisive game in Recife, Mexico got the better of Croatia as three goals in the space of ten minutes got the better of the Europeans.
With a draw good enough for the Mexicans to go through, the Mexicans sat back and mounted attacks only on the counter. But the Mexicans still looked the more likely to score; in spite of the Croats enjoying the lion’s share of possession in the first forty-five.
The first of any goal mouth action was indeed induced by El Tri. While Héctor Herrera’s long-range effort thudded against the post, Oribe Peralta scuffed his attempt when put through on goal. Except for these couple of moments, the first half action was largely filled with listless minutes of passing the ball around as the Croats failed to decode the Mexican defensive schemes.
The first moment of drama in this one came just as the game passed the hour mark. Andrés Guardado's shot struck the arms of Darijo Srna inside the box. Mexico’s appeal for a penalty however fell on deaf ears as the referee waved play on.
Mexico, however pummelled and the game finally came to life in the final twenty minutes. Rafael Márquez’s opener was soon followed by Andrés Guardado’s second three minutes later as Croatia stood shocked, not knowing what had hit them.
With Croatia discombobulating, Javier Hernandez put the final nail in the coffin as a ten minute whirlwind of a spell had the Mexicans up 3-0.
Ivan Periši? did score a consolation late on but his joys were short-lived as Croatia’s last mark in the World Cup was to be a red card. Ante Rebi?’s reckless tackle on Mexican substitute Carlos Peña was a show of frustration more than anything else as the Croats were sent tumbling out of the competition.
Netherlands make a clean sweep
Goals from Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay helped Netherlands to a perfect record in the group stage.
In a game that was supposed to be a battle for the second spot turned out to be the decider for becoming the group champions.
However, it wasn’t the free-running, gung-ho, end to end action that everyone had anticipated. The Brilliant tactician in Louis van Gaal was on display in this game as the Dutch often played with a flat back five and stifled the swift passing Chilean side in the midfield.
The first-half was a dour exhibition of possession football from the South Americans with only half chances coming in the way of their main threat Felipe Gutiérrez.
The only moment of excitement in the first forty-five was provided by another one of Arjen Robben’s blistering runs. However, the Bayern winger failed to sign off with a finish as he scuffed his shot wide of the mark.
Except for another run from Robben in the 70th minute game didn’t quite change in the second-half. The turning point came when centre back Francisco Silva was withdrawn to make way for playmaker Jorge Valdívia as Jorge Sampaoli switched Chile to a 4-3-3, chasing the game as they were behind the Dutch on goal difference.
However, the effect on the game was not one that the Chilean coach had envisaged. The only Achilles’ heel for the South Americans has been their struggles in the air, and now with their tallest defender off, the repercussions were immediate and as it turned out, fatal.
Leroy Fer headed the Dutch into the lead with just ten minutes remaining in the game as the Norwich midfielder managed to get himself at the end of a sumptuous free-kick from Arjen Robben.
With La Roja throwing the kitchen sink at the Oranje, they consequently left gaps at the back. With Arjen Robben lurking, such tactics always come with a statutory warning. And in stoppage time, Robben made them pay.
A great run on the left was followed by an equally great cross in to the box for an on rushing Memphis Depay to tap in and secure the result
Spain wins dead rubber
Spain managed to salvage some pride as they scored their first points via a 3-0 win over the already eliminated Australia.
Goals from Spain record goal-scorer David Villa, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata helped them get their first points on the board in the competition.
The Spanish dominated the game from the get-go and were rewarded in the 36th minutes when a Juanfran cross from the right, was delightfully tucked in to the net by a sublime David Villa back-heel.
In the 69th minute it was 2-0 as Fernando Torres was put though on goal by a defence splitting pass from Andres Iniesta. The Chelsea forward did the rest as he slid the ball past Matthew Ryan to double Spain’s lead.
Former Chelsea man Juan Mata was on hand to put a third in for Spain in the 82nd minute to make sure that Spain at least had a game to remember from this horror of a World Cup for the defending champions.
The results mean that the Mexicans will go through to the knock-out stages from Group A as runners-up where they will meet Netherlands, while Brazil top Group A courtesy of a greater goal difference and will now meet Chile.
