Holland 2, Brazil 1. I'm so happy to have yet again been wrong.

Brazil scored in the first ten minutes on a long through-ball that split the defense which Robinho expertly finished. Awful Dutch defending.

Indeed, Holland looked terrible -- totally outclassed -- until Sneijder's 53' goal on a free kick (which was credited as an own goal by Melo, but would have gone in, I think, even without a Melo touch). Brazil were rattled, and Holland was skilled enough to take advantage. Tireless Dirk Kuyt head-flicked a corner to Sneijder, who headed in the go-ahead.

Brazil, behind 2-1, utterly lost their composure. Robben was terrifying Brazilian defenders all game and drawing a parade of fouls, all of which he theatrically exaggerated (but they were fouls, to be clear). Frustrated with his poor defensive performance, Melo maliciously stomped Robben's thigh after taking him down, earning an immediate red. Brazil with ten is still very dangerous, and while they made many runs forward, they were not coherent or organized (unlike, say, ten-man Barca against Chelsea in the 2009 CL semis). The Dutch kept the game under control, and saw Brazil off.

I'm delighted, because when you have the talent Brazil has, you can play a more exciting style and still win championships. When you play a grinding style where victory comes through the accumulation of small margins, you'll win a lot, but when you go down against a truly world class opponent, you'll be in serious trouble. I thought Brazil were so good that they wouldn't rattle; I was wrong. They did, and they lost.

A few other thoughts:

• Dirk Kuyt was fantastic. Not a skill-merchant, obviously, and sometimes he's driven me crazy in a Pool shirt, but he was a force out there. Attaboy, Dirk!

• Van Persie was rubbish. Not great movement off the ball, intimidated by Lucio, terrible free kicks.
  

• What a career Robben could have had if he weren't injured half the time. A very scary offensive player.

• Van Bommel's cynical and constant fouling is appalling, and he should have been shown yellow. At least once.

FF