After just 90 seconds of kick-off in Brasilia, van Persie’s slide-rule pass inside the left channel of the hosts’ defence combined with a blisteringly fast Arjen Robben dash in from right. The winger was then pulled down at pace by captain Thiago Silva within shooting distance. A penalty was awarded by the referee, and Van Persie found the top corner.
On 17 minutes, it was 2-0. Jonathan de Guzman, a late inclusion following an injury to Wesley Sneijder during the warm-up, collected a Robben pass & drove to the byline. Once there, he lofted a seemingly harmless cross into the area only for David Luiz to head his attempted clearance straight to Daley Blind, who took one touch to control, another to set and then calmly found the roof of the net.
Oscar struck a long-range drive into the palms of Jasper Cillessen, De Guzman clipped too high from a central position after being set up by more incisive work from Robben, and Georginio Wijnaldum had to position himself perfectly at the back post to glance away a troublesome free-kick that was travelling kindly towards Paulinho. Yet another devilish Oscar set-piece then somehow eluded his team-mates following a Luiz Gustavo flick-on.
Keen to increase his World Cup goal tally at the outset of the second half, Robben completed a rapid one-two with Blind from a free-kick scenario and powered into the Brazil box; making amends, however, was Silva, sliding in quickly to block a blast from the 30-year-old as Julio Cesar steeled himself to prevent another addition to the scoresheet.
Ramires single-handedly earned space for a shot at Cillessen shortly before the hour-mark by skipping around a challenge from centre-back Ron Vlaar at the edge of Dutch territory, but the Chelsea midfielder dragged his effort wide to the left of the target. Next, the Netherlands goalkeeper was unconcerned by Luiz’s dead-ball piledriver.
Seeking an injection of creativity and invention, Scolari introduced Hernanes and later Hulk to proceedings, but the home nation were met with frustration at almost every turn. When Oscar did scurry into freedom on the left side with 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the playmaker disappointingly curled high and wide of the far post.
Wijnaldum, in fact, added further gloss to the scoreline for Van Gaal's team in the first minute of stoppage time, firing home low at the near post after being left unmarked in a central position inside the box and found by an accurate delivery from the right flank by substitute Daryl Janmaat.
So the history books will show that the Dutch finished third at the 20th edition of the World Cup, relegating Brazil to fourth spot. Now the focus here and everywhere around the world shifts to the last remaining outcome to be decided on world football’s greatest stage – with Argentina and Germany competing for the Trophy on Sunday.
source: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255957/match=300186502/match-report.html
