Quarter-Final time...

I hope you have enjoyed the blogs I've put up so far? I think my betting tips have been pretty spot on so far so congratulations to anyone that backed them! Watching the Portugal game last night it occurred to me that I had missed out looking at some of the back-up players who could come in and so I'll try and have a look at those for the upcoming matches as well as the usual.

Holland v Brazil, Kick-Off 3pm UK Time Friday
Defence
I have already covered both of these teams in previous blogs and both defences held up pretty well in the Last 16 matches so I'll just give a brief look at them again. Brazil have probably the best centre back in the world today in Lucio and the best right-back in Maicon. However, it will have been a while since they came up against an attack like Holland's and this should prove a real test of their credentials. As I have previously mentioned I have my reservations about Brazils left-back Michel Bastos. He is not a natural defender and his positioning at times is truly horrendous. I would imagine Van Maarwijk will start Robben on the right and brief him to cut in onto Bastos' weaker right foot as often as possible to cause Brazil's defence serious problems. I would imagine Dunga knows this is a weak spot though, and I would also expect him to tell Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva that they should always be available to help out when required. Holland's back line didn't look exactly completely comfortable against the relative minnows of Slovakia. Van Der Wiel again impressed me at right-back, but the 2 centre halves seemed to struggle at times. If Robert Vittek caused Mathijsen and Heitinga problems Luis Fabiano must be licking his chops at the prospect of facing them. Neither looked happy up against pace, and whilst O Fabuloso is no Usain Bolt he is far from slow. As impressive as Van Der Wiel has been previously too he hasn't faced anyone of the calibre of Robinho, who has been my player of the tournament so far. I would expect the full-back areas to be key in this match with both teams having flying forwards, and I think the defence that holds out best will probably come out on top.

Midfield
Both teams line up with 2 spcific defensive midfielders and both managers have been criticised at home for doing as such. Looking at their form though I would be inclined to back the managers decision over fans! Brazil line up with Gilberto Silva of Panathinaikos and Felipe Melo of Juventus. Whilst these 2 may not impress with their skill or win matches on their own their jobs should not be undervalued. They are the platform that allows their teams more celebrated attackers to do their stuff and have been quietly efficient at that job so far. Melo missed Brazil's match against Chile and although they hardly struggled I think his replacement Ramires showed that he's not quite at that level. Melo seems to have a sixth sense for reading the pass the opposition are about to play and cutting it off before it becomes dangerous. He has taken a lot of stick in Italy, but seeing him in this World Cup I would consider Dunga's decision to pick him as fully vindicated.
Holland also line up with 2 screening players, this time Mark Van Bommel of Bayern Munich and Nigel De Jong of Manchester City. Mark Van Bommel is the absolute master of 'tactical fouling' and is the player that the oft-lauded Javier Mascherano must dream of being! His re-instatement to the team under Van Maarwijk has coincided with a swift improvement in performances and results. I have previously mentioned my personal opinion of Nigel De Jong as being the perfect modern defensive midfielder. His physique, strength and discipline are a case-study in the art of dfending from midfield and should be shown to any aspiring player as a guide to how to do the job. All 4 of these players will start this match barring some major illness or injury so I wont go into their possible replacements.

Attack
This is where both teams have built their reputations as the great flair tems of world football. Both still play beautiful football at teams, but also have a tactical discipline that has seen them criticised by fans more used to seeing a gung-ho approach to the game. Saying that, both teams have a flying left-footer who cares little for defensive responsibilities, Arjen Robben for Holland and Robinho for Brazil. Anyone who watched the Champions League last year will attest to the stunning performances of Robben and will have seen him, at times single-handedly, drag Munich through some games. Robinho has been out of the European game on-loan to Santos in Brazil from Manchester City. Both are capable of being the player that decides this match and I personally think with Kaka looking generally hopelessly out-of-form Robinho has become the leader of this Brazil team. Both are more than ably assisted by some of Europes top names. For Holland we have Wesley Sneijder of Inter Milan and Robin Van Persie of Arsenal. Sneijder was probably the best player in Europe last year and pulls the strings for Holland. He supplies the bullets for Robben and Van Persie and is more than capable of unleashing freekicks and long-distance shots himself. Van Persie is an amazing player when fit! And he is at the moment so I expect him to shine. For Brazil it is normally Elano of Galatasaray and Kaka of Real Madrid. As mentioned I think Kaka has looked off-the-pace so far, but as he showed with a killer pass to set up a goal in the Chile game he still has the ability. Elano is injured so I would expect Dunga to pick either Dani Alves or Nilmar to replace him. Dani Alves is a one man right side machine who offers defensive nous whereas Nilmar offers a goalscoring threat as England will remember from the recent friendly between the teams! I would expect the conservative Dunga to pick Alves and possibly bring Nilmar from the bench if needed later on.
I think this will be where the match is decided as both teams have players capable of match-defining performances. I think Robinho will be the difference if he performs as he has been with Luis Fabiano looking in great form of late to finish moves off. Holland tend to play Dirk Kujt and whilst he's a lot of things, prolific isn't one of them!

Betting
Although I have talked about how good Holland's forwards are capable of being, however they haven't clicked yet like Brazil have. I fancy Brazil to win 1-0 or 2-0 in this at 6's for 1-0 at Boylesports and 8's for 2-0 at Skybet. I also like Fabiano to score first at a top-priced 19/4 with Victor Chandler. Brazil to keep a clean sheet at 6/4 with bet365 and Brazil to do the job in 90 minutes at 10/11 widely available.