Previews & Predictions: Brazil vs. Holland

Brazil vs. Holland should really be a final, but both teams will be measuring up in what could be the most entertaining game of the world cup. Brazil are always the favorites to win it all, and the fact that the seleção may not get past the Dutch will get everyone’s attention. The Ornaje feel that this could be their year. Always a contender on paper, the Dutch have never won football’s biggest prize, and could well be labeled as football’s greatest underachievers.


As everyone had assumed, Brazil finished first in the group of death. After just grinding out a result against North Korea, the Brazilians easily beat the Ivory Coast before drawing an inconsequential game against Portugal. Unlike Brazilian teams of the past, Dunga’s squad has not awed the world with its free-flowing attacks, and samba-like movement. Instead, the team has depended on a strong defense anchored by Lucio, and a defensive midfield partnership that aims to frustrate the opposition as much as possible. Yet, while this year’s Brazil will be remembered more for what it does defensively, Kaka, Robinho, and Luis Fabiano still provide enough firepower to outscore any team. Kaka is, in fact, a necessity to the Brazilians. The game against Portugal showed that while Brazil can attack without him, the team definitely doen’t have the same panache when he’s not on the field.

Sneijder will need to pull the strings for Holland 

Similarly to Brazil, Holland has performed as predicted. The Dutch cruised through their group, and had little trouble dispatching Slovakia. Wesley Sneijder has been fundamental to the team’s perforamces, and Robben’s recent recovery from injury has only added to the team’s offensive capabilities. However, the Dutch defense hasn’t looked incredibly strong even though Holland’s opponents haven’t been too threatening, and that should be troubling considering Brazil is next. Success for Holland rests solely on its ability to score, and there are plenty of players that can do so. Perhaps the biggest issue facing the Oranje is the constant bickering between players, which seems to be a constant thorn on Dutch squads, past and present.

Prediction: Brazil 3 – Holland 2

This game promises to be a shootout. No matter how good the Brazilian defense is, the Dutch will find ways to score, and in order to beat the Orange Machine, Brazil will have to score as well. That may not be so hard given the fact that Holland’s defense appears to be the weakest link. Brazil will probably pick on Holland’s lack of defensive speed, and Mathijsen will be spending a lot of time looking at Luis Fabiano’s back. Filipe Melo and Gilberto Silva should do enough to get Sneijder off his game, and without him the Dutch are less effective. Holland will look to take advantage of Michel Bastos’ defensive inexperience by starting Robben on his side. However, in order to beat Brazil’s defense, Holland will have to attack effectively from both wings, and Maicon is not going to let that happen.