BY ADAM SERRANO
There were no surprises in the World Cup on Monday as a powerhouses advanced to set up a fantastic match in the Quarterfinals.
Brazil may not be the "joga bonito" side of old, but in their 3-0 demolition of Chile, the Brazilians provided their fans with a bit of beautiful soccer as Brazil advanced to the quarterfinals. A header by Juan earned the victory, but a pair of goals by Luis Fabiano and Robinho respectively gave the Brazilians a convincing victory.
The Chileans provided the Brazilians with a moment of pause early in the match as they sought to battle with the five-time champions head on. In the 33rd minute, the Brazilians finally broke through when the burly defender Juan headed in a ball on a corner kick past the Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Brazil would finish off their South American rivals only four minutes later.
On a lightning fast counter attack, Luis Fabiano made a brilliant run to stay onside after receiving a brilliant pass from Kaka. The forward dribbled around Bravo and doubled the Brazilians lead by calmly placing it into the back of the net.
The Chileans bravely tried to match the Brazilians but were clearly outclassed. The Brazilians would add in a third in the 59th when Robinho fired in a fantastic one timer that sealed their fourth consecutive appearance in the Quarterfinals.
Here are the highlights:
ROBBEN RETURNS TO FORM AS DUTCH DEFEAT SLOVAKIA, 2-1
It may not have been dominant, but the Dutch advanced to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 1998 due to goals by Arjen Robben and Wesley Snjeder in a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.
In his first start of the tournament since recovering from a pre-tournament hamstring injury, Robben scored a goal and nearly added several more as he led the Netherlands to a convincing win. The Dutch maestro opened the scoring early in the 18th minute with a trademark cut inside from the right wing and scored on a low precise shot that fell into the right corner of the net.
The Slovakians battled hard to get back into the match, but saw their chances limited. Their persistence forced Maarten Stekelenburg to make a pair of key saves in the 67th Minute. With the Slovaks pushing for the equalizer, the Dutch capitalized and put the game out of reach late. In the 84th minute, Slovak goalkeeper Jan Mucha came out of his net and failed to handle the ball on a free kick. The ball fell to Dirk Kuyt who played it across the goalmouth to Snjinder who put the match out of reach.
The Slovaks were able to make the score a bit more respectable when the lead was cut in half in the dying seconds of the match when Slovakia earned a penalty due to a Stekelenburg foul on Robert Vittek in the box. Vittek buried the effort and with the goal became Slovakia's all time leading goalscorer in the World Cup.
Here are the highlights: