Brazil 1 Netherlands 2:Five-time winners Brazil are out of the World Cup after catastrophic capitulation in the second half of their quarter-final against the Netherlands saw them relinquish a one-goal lead and end the game with 10 men. Dunga's side led 1-0 after a dominant first half opened with a goal from Robinho.
And they looked comfortable until Wesley Sneijder’s free-kick was headed into his own net by Felipe Melo eight minutes into the second half.
Brazil went missing after that and handed the momentum to the Dutch who struck a second when Dirk Kuyt near-post flick on was converted by Sneijder.
Melo was then shown red after kicking Arjen Robben, a thorn in Brazilian sides throughout, while he was on the ground.
With 10 men on the pitch they tried little else but to launch long balls forward and they were dealt with comfortable for the most part.
"In the changing-room at half-time, everyone said to each other 'let's give everything' and that's what we did. We fought for each other," Sneijder told a television reporter after the match. "In the second half, we put a lot of pressure on their defence and to score twice was fantastic."
He added: "We're in the last four of the world. To beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarter-final, you have to be pleased with that. But in the next days, we will have to get our heads in focus again."
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said the comeback showed how mentally strong his team were.
"In the first 20 minutes, I was happy that the score was only 1-0, and I told Frank (assistant Frank de Boer) that we still have a chance. In the second half we showed how good we are," he said. "Tonight we're going to party and then start and fight again."
Holland will have to do without both full-back Gregory van der Wiel and midfielder Nigel de Jong for Tuesday’s semi-final in Cape Town after both collected second bookings.
Dutch legend Johan Cruyff had claimed dismissively before the game that he would not pay to watch this Brazil team, and if he did stay away from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, he may have been glad he did so at half-time.
Dunga’s men may not possess the all flair of their forebears, but they had morethan enough to cut Holland open almost at will, and the 1-0 lead they enjoyed at half-time was scant reward for their dominance.
Robinho thought he had given the South Americans the lead with just eight minutes gone after Luis Fabiano and Dani Alves combined to carve open the path to goal and he supplied the finish.
An offside flag ended that celebration, but Santos striker did not have to wait too long for a chance to ease his disappointment.
This time, it was defensive midfielder Melo who split the Dutch rearguard wide open with a straight ball down the middle, and Robinho left orange shirts floundering in his wake as he beat keeper Maarten Stekelenburg with consummate ease.
But for Stekelenburg, the game would effectively have been over by the break with the Ajax man pulling off a fine one-handed save to keep out Kaka’s curling 31st-minute effort after Robinho and Luis Fabiano had left Holland once again chasing shadows down the left.
The keeper was relieved to see full-back Maicon’s rasping drive, which bore similarities to Carlos Alberto’s stunning strike in 1970, tear into the side-netting in injury time with the Dutch very much up against it.
But they resumed in more determined fashion, and they got their reward within eight minutes of he restart when, after Sneijder had curled a cross hopefully into the penalty area, Julio Cesar and Melo challenged each other and the ball went in off the midfielder’s head.
Robben started to cause problems in the wake of the goal, but Alves flashed a long-range effort just wide and Kaka also went close at the other end as Brazil responded.
But it was Holland who took the lead with 22 minutes remaining when Kuyt flicked on Robben’s corner and Sneijder steered a header into the net.
Melo received his marching orders five minutes later for senselessly stamping on Robben with his side’s World Cup dream rapidly unravelling.
Andre Ooijer’s last-ditch tackle denied Kaka five minutes from time, and there was no way back for Brazil.