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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Netherlands beats host Brazil 3-0 to finish third

Netherlands’ Daley Blind, center, celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the World Cup third-place soccer match against Brazil. (Associated Press)
Tales Azzoni Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil – When it was all over, it was the Netherlands receiving a standing ovation from the Brazilian crowd. Brazil walked off the field to boos, after another demoralizing loss to end its home World Cup.

The Netherlands’ remarkable campaign ended on a high note after Robin van Persie and Daley Blind scored early goals to help give the team a 3-0 win over Brazil in the third-place game on Saturday.

“We can look back at a very successful tournament,” Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal said. “I’m proud of my players.”

The Netherlands finishes a World Cup unbeaten in regular play for the first time, having lost to Argentina on penalties in the semifinals. After finishing runner-up in 2010, the third place is the best position for the Dutch squad since it lost the final in 1974 and 1978.

The Brazilian fans loudly greeted the Dutch players after they received the third-place medals, applauding on their feet.

“I would like to thank all people in Brazil for their great support,” Arjen Robben said. “For us it was the best way to end this tournament. We fully deserved third place the way we played. It’s a very big achievement.”

The loss added to Brazil’s frustration at the home tournament following the disastrous 7-1 defeat to Germany. After the final whistle, the team was loudly booed by the nearly 70,000 fans that attended the match at the National Stadium in Brasilia. Many had already left even before the late third goal by the Dutch. It’s the first time since 1940 that Brazil lost two consecutive competitive games on home soil.

“It’s a terrible feeling, I don’t know what to say,” Oscar said. “After a huge loss to Germany, today we tried our best from the beginning to win third place but it wasn’t our day. We have to see what went wrong so we can improve for the future.”

Brazil conceded 14 goals in the tournament, the most for the team. The previous worst had been 11 goals in the 1938 World Cup. It conceded 10 in its last two games of this World Cup.

“It was supposed to be an even match but after the early goal things started going their way,” Scolari said. “I don’t think we played that bad. The players fought hard from the start. They created chances, so it’s difficult to lose 3-0. But they deserve all the credit in the end, they reached the semifinals.”

Van Persie converted a penalty kick 3 minutes into the match after Robben was brought down by Brazil captain Thiago Silva on the edge of the area. Blind added to the lead in the 17th with a shot from near the penalty spot after defender David Luiz made a mistake while trying to clear a cross in front of the goal. Georginio Wijnaldum rounded off the win in injury time with a shot inside the near post.

“The most beautiful was our resilience. We were knocked out but we came back and finished third,” Wijnaldum said. “We wanted to close it out well.”

Brazil looked lost from the start, making many of the same defensive mistakes that marked the historic defeat to the Germans four days ago. The Netherlands took advantage with quick passes and speed in the attack.