Brazil’s dreams of seeing its team lift the World Cup trophy on home soil were torn to shreds by the ruthlessness of Germany, who handed the Brazilians their worst ever international loss in the semifinals.
The Selecao now begin the long journey to rehabilitate their shattered reputation against the Netherlands in the 3rd/4th-place playoff. The Dutch, who went out in less humiliating but more heartbreaking fashion via penalty shootout against Argentina, will also look to go out on a high after a surprisingly successful tournament.
While Brazil and the Netherlands try to salvage some modicum of pride, Argentina and Germany battle it out for the main prize. Check out our preview of the World Cup final here. Create a betting account now and wager on the second-to-last game in this World Cup.
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Brazil vs. Netherlands, World Cup 2014, 3rd Place Game Betting Preview and Predictions
In the aftermath of Brazil’s historic 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in the semifinals, the question is: how they will respond? Will they pack it in because they’ve already failed in their ultimate goal of winning the cup, or do they rally in the wake of all the negative publicity thrown at them in recent days?
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Expect more of the latter against the Netherlands. A lot of pride will be at stake for their players, such as the embattled David Luiz, to at least soften the blow of that horrific defeat both for themselves and for their countrymen.
Contrary to what the emphatic 7-1 score line would suggest, Brazil is not a bad team by any means. They definitely weren’t as good as Germany on Tuesday, but they’re still a match for almost any other nation in the world on any other day.
They defeated a Colombian team that had been so impressive and free-scoring in the quarterfinal when they had a full-strength starting 11. An important part of that lineup, Captain Thiago Silva, was a big loss after being suspended against Germany. He’ll make his return to the lineup and reorganize a defense that was a shambles without him.
But without the injured Neymar, the issue will continue to be the lack of clinical finishing going forward. None of Brazil’s recognized forwards – Fred, Hulk, Jo – have scored in their last three games.
Betting on the Netherlands
It’s been a tale of two tournaments for the Netherlands. They were the highest-scoring team in the group stage with 10 goals, half of which came in the epic 5-1 demolition of Spain. Spearheading their attack was the duo of Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, who scored six of those ten goals.
Those goals have dried up in the knockout rounds. They needed 88 minutes and a controversial penalty decision to defeat Mexico and were held scoreless against Costa Rica and Argentina until both games went to penalty shootouts. After a master-stroke goalkeeping move by coach Louis van Gaal against Costa Rica, the Oranje’s luck eventually ran out as they were eliminated by the Argentinians.
With van Persie ineffective since the first couple of matches and Robben spent after basically carrying the offense for much of the tournament, it’s unlikely that they’ll feature in the third-place game. Nevertheless, van Gaal has some decent options on the bench with Memphis Depay and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who have three goals between them.
van Gaal has played much of the tournament with conservative formations. He was particularly cautious against Argentina to stop the threat of Lionel Messi. But in a match of relatively little consequence, he will likely reinstate the 4-3-3 formation the Dutch are famous for to prompt a more attacking approach.
The talented Dutch wingers in Depay and Robben (if he plays) should relish the opportunity to exploit Brazil’s defensively-challenged fullbacks, who were continually exposed by the Germans in the semis.
Writer’s Prediction
After the national tragedy that was Germany, Brazil (+115) restores some pride by beating the Dutch to claim third place.
