By Ollie Irish
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Goals by Arjen Robben and Wes Sneijder were enough to see the Netherlands make it into the last eight, where scary Brazil await. I’m far from convinced that the Dutch are good enough to beat Dunga’s very strong side, but with mercurial players like Robben (especially), Sneijder and Robin van Persie (poor so far in South Africa, admittedly) in the Oranje ranks, you can’t discount an upset in Port Elizabeth on 2 July. That said, surely Brazil will have too much strength and skill for, well, anyone in the tournament. In other words, I still stand by my pre-tournament prediction that Brazil will win the whole thing.
Slovakia, meanwhile, weren’t great but will look back with some satisfaction after a level-par campaign, especially in beating the 2006 winners, Italy.