In perhaps the most eventful and dramatic day of this World Cup, Brazil fell to the Netherlands 2-1 in what can best be described as a doozy. What happened to the Verde-Amarela as they saw themselves down in the score for the first time in the tournament? Dunga, who had won everything with Brazil in 3 years except the World cup, saw his reign come to an end in a 15 minute interval in which his side received two goals. Who's responsible for this loss? Dunga or the players? What is clear is that Brazil felt Elano's absence and was not served well by Dunga's replacement of Michel Bastos in the 62 minute by Gilberto. Granted that Michel Bastos hadn't had a great match and was carrying a yellow card, but if Brazil seemed a bit disoriented after the first goal, they seemed completely lost when Gilberto replaced Bastos. Brazil will now how to regroup as they prepare to host the World Cup in 2014, a World Cup which already has a favorite -- Brazil.
Every world cup has it's heart-breaking, gut-wrenching match, and that distinction goes to today's second match between Uruguay and Ghana. Uruguay won in dramatic fashion in penalty shootouts after Ghana's Gyan missed a penalty shot in the 30th minute of extra time (which would have made Ghana the first team from Africa to ever reach the semi-finals). In Uruguay they say that to win "a la Uruguaya" is to win with a little help from God. Did Ghana really deserve this fate? What is clear is that the "Loco" Abreu's Panenka style winning penalty kick will go down in the history books as one of the gutsiest ever. How many times did we see el Loco make kicks like this in Mexico during his years with Cruz Azul and Tecos? If only the Ghanian Goalie would've done a little research...
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