In Part-2 of the series, TheHardTackle’s Somnath Sengupta analyzes how Brazilian football became more defensive in the 90s and how the new tactics have led Brazil to a successful return to the pinnacle of the beautiful game, and concludes his observations with a comparison of Brazil’s changing formation and tactics in different World Cups.
We take a look back to an uneventful day-19. Spain made it through while Paraguay reached their first ever quarter final.
In a match that got better as it progressed, Spain got the better of Portugal to move into the quarterfinals. A solitary David Villa goal was enough to see off the Portuguese and ensure a match up against Paraguay in the quarter final.
Brazil cruised into the Quarter-Finals after an outstanding display of attacking football. Chile, who looked like a bunch of immensely talented individuals when they played Switzerland in their first match, weren’t good enough against their South American neighbors. THT’s Sounak brings you the Match Report.
Netherlands and Brazil secured their expected victories, to book a quarterfinal date with each other. While Netherlands’ result marked the return of Arjen Robben to the field, the trio of Kaka, Robinho and Fabiano conjured magical moments to douse the red hot Chile peppers. TheHardTackle’s Prasanna Venkatesh looks at the highlights of the day’s matches.
TheHardTackle’s Debapriya Deb reviews the action from the round-of-sixteen encounter between Netherlands and Slovakia.
Fourth and last day of the last sixteen clashes will feature two mouth watering contests. While Paraguay take on Japan in the first match, European Champions Spain will lock horns with neighbors Portugal. TheHardTackle’s Sachin Madaan previews both the matches for our readers to get a clear idea of what to expect from the encounters.
This world cup was touted to be a giant leap forward for African football. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way. Five of the six African nations packed their bags in the very first round. Ghana, has slowly but steadily, crept into the last eight. THT’s Somnath Sengupta anyalyzes there performance till now and evaluates their chances to reach semi-final.
In a day of scintillating football action, the Germans ran amok through a supposedly strong English side, to hand the latter one of their heaviest defeats in the World Cup; Thomas Muller was the mastermind behind the capitulation of the Three Lions. In the other match, Argentina send the Mexicans packing home, thanks to an inspired performance by Carlos Tevez. Both matches were marred by controversial refereeing decisions, which ruined what could have otherwise been a beautiful game.
![[C] wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/ArgentinaFootball.png](http://www.thehardtackle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ArgentinaFootball2-90x65.png "[C] wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/ArgentinaFootball.png")
Carlos Tevez’s brace and Gonzalo Higuain’s first half strike helped the Albicelestes to trounce Mexico 3-1 to set up yet another Quarter Final clash with Germany in a re-match of their 2006 campaign. TheHardTackle’s Debapriya Deb analyzes the actions from Soccer City Stadium.
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