Brazil Gets Crushed Again in the World Cup Consolation Game
Days after its massive letdown against Germany, Brazil got blanked in the World Cup's consolation game by the Netherlands. The World Cup started last month with psychedelically high expectations for the host country, but after losing its star player in the quarterfinals win against Colombia, the team was hapless in its final two games.
#BRA was never the same after losing their best player at the #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Tpn32vhy7G
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 12, 2014
With its 3-0 loss today, Brazil failed to secure the third place spot.
Saturday's game seemed over early as the Dutch connected twice in the opening minutes. From the CBS report:
[Robin] Van Persie converted a penalty kick three minutes into the match after Arjen Robben was brought down by Brazil captain Thiago Silva. [Daley] Blind added to the lead in the 17th with a shot from near the penalty spot after defender David Luiz made a mistake while trying to clear a cross in front of the goal. Georginio Wijnaldum rounded off the win in injury time.
The Netherlands finished the tournament undefeated in regular play with their last loss coming in penalty kicks against Argentina.
Some were quick to pour salt on Brazil's wound:
RT @StarsStripesFC: Brazil finished with a -3 goal differential. The #USMNT finished with a -1. #USA > #BRA pic.twitter.com/VY6CgvoNoG
— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 12, 2014
The facts didn't help any either:
Brazil lost back-to-back home games for the 1st time since 1940 and ended the tournament having conceded 14 goals, the most since 1986
— SuperSport Blitz (@SuperSportBlitz) July 12, 2014
More importantly, if history is any indication, Argentina should be considered a favorite to win the World Cup final against Germany tomorrow. Not only has a European team never won a World Cup played in the Americas, but there's also this bit of recent history to consider:
Since 1994, the team that beat the winner of the third place match in the semifinals has always won the World Cup.
— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) July 12, 2014
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/07/brazil-also-gets-crushed-again-in-the-consolation-game/374338/
