NED vs BRA: battle of the playmakers
Port Elizabeth: It is a clash between the number one and the number four side in the world. There has been no shortage of magic from the Selaccao and the five-time world champion would want to carry on and win their sixth title. The Dutch, on the other hand, have adopted a far more pragmatic and hard-to-beat approach.
And the winner could well be decided by who wins the battle of the playmakers. Kaka has had a below par World Cup including a send-off and Wesley Sneijder is yet to dominate in the way he does for Inter Milan. The stage is set for one or both to take control. Unspectacular but effective Oranje
Dutch football is synonymous with Total Football but the Netherlands' football in the World Cup so far has been anything but total. The Oranje have won all the matches in South Africa and have a boastful 100 per cent record - it is actually better than Brazil and Spain - but coach Bert van Marwijk has been criticised in failing to adopt a more liberal attacking style.
However, the Dutch teams of yore played with panache but generally lost their way in knockout stages, rendering their entertaining football eye-catching but fruitless. This time, though, it could be different and the Dutch will surely be optimistic. The 4-2-3-1 formation has been very effective in suffocating the opposition of possession and control in the midfield and has also seen the Dutch score goals upfront.
So far the Oranje have flown freely in the competition, beating the likes of Denmark, Japan and Cameroon in the group stage with virtually no trouble and then breezing past Slovakia in the last-16 without really increasing the tempo. Read more....
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