Nobody watching the first half at the Nelson Mandela Stadium could have predicted what was to follow. The Dutch manager, Bert van Marwijk, said his defence that lost Joris Mathijsen in the warm-up had been so overrun that they were fortunate to be only one goal down at the interval. Nevertheless, they attacked so well against a Brazilian side that was reluctant to force home its advantage that Holland might have won by four or five goals. The quarter-final was a damning indictment of the way Dunga ran Brazil. They seemed more concerned with kicking Arjen Robben off the pitch than scoring a second, which led to Filipe Melo’s dismissal but only after the midfielder had headed Wesley Sneijder’s cross past his own keeper.

Robinho, who had scored Brazil’s first, raged that their failure to deal with “two silly balls” cost them the World Cup. The second came from Robben’s boots, was flicked on by Dirk Kuyt and finished off by Sneijder who scored with his head for the first time in an international. The Dutch return to Cape Town for a semi-final against a Uruguayan side minus the suspended Luis Suarez while Dunga announced his resignation. He is unlikely to be mourned in Sao Paulo or Rio.