As the night got deeper the tensions were evident in our TV room. I and my father kept on uttering the Ooosss and aaassss. It was a pressure cooker situation. But a magnificent free-kick by Branco erased the tensions from our face and heart. This quarterfinal match burst into life during the second-half. It was the teams’ first competitive meeting since 1974, and Brazil wanted to avenge that year’s second round match defeat. Aldair delivered a long pass to Bebeto who crossed the ball to Romario and Romario just used the pace of the ball and gave Brazil a 1-0 lead. Then Bebeto himself rounded the goalkeeper to give his side a two goal lead. Bebeto’s goal triggered one of the finest celebrations of the World Cup. He showed the world the wonderful baby-cradling dance with which players who’ve recently become dads have since celebrated scoring — the game appeared over. Not so. Within a minute, Holland halved the deficit thanks to Denis Bergkamp’s stunning solo effort. A moment later, Arian Winter headed the ball into Brazil’s net and leveled the score. The match was heading for extra-time and the sad memories of 1974 loomed large in the minds of the fans, but Brazil’s winner came from an unexpected source: Defender Branco struck a sumptuous 25-yard free kick into the far corner, but he was only playing that day as a replacement for Leonardo, who was suspended because of an earlier red card against the United States. Brazil entered into the World Cup semifinals since 1970.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 07:22:54 +0000
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