[_____V_____]

HALFTIME WHISTLE -


NETHERLANDS - 0


BRAZIL - 1
(Robinho 10')


Whew! What a cracking half! 45 minutes of some of the finest, rough and pacy football you ll ever get to see.
Tempers started flaring within the first 5 minutes of the match itself, when Robinho yelled "FUCK YOU!" to one of the Dutchmen in loud and clear words. No love lost between the two teams, after all the tough talk in the past couple days which built up to this match.
And that superb 10th minute charge which saw Robinho blast the ball past the GK for the opening goal. He had earlier charged into the Dutch defense and scored too, but that goal was disallowed because of offside ruling.
The Dutch had some half-decent runs into the Brazilian half, but everytime Brazil's defenses stood firm. Lucio & Gilberto Silva particularly kept denying Arjen Robben & Wesley Sneijder any chances they might have had at the Brazilian goal.
And Brazil kept attacking right up to the half-time whistle. One of Kaka's turbo-charged shots was heading straight in, if the Dutch GK didn't get a last-minute hand to it to divert it away. And another blast by Maicon from the right saw the ball thud into the side of the net.
The ref was kept plenty busy with a lot of bookings in the first half itself. Both teams are on full-steam ahead mode, and they are not short of a word or two to each other. All in all, football at its most dynamic and roughest so far.
The second half promises to be a real cracker.