Matchday 18 - Brilliant Brazil

Netherlands 2 (Robben 18, Sneijder 84) - Slovakia 1 (90+4p)
Brazil 3 (Juan 35, Fabiano 38, Robinho 59) - Chile 0

Brazil stamped themselves as the team to beat at the 2010 World Cup after they advanced to the quarter-finals with a dominant 3-0 win over Chile. There they will meet the Netherlands, who comfortably accounted for Slovakia 2-1, despite conceding a late penalty.

The samba superstars from Brazil again showed why they are 5 time champions in clinically dispatching their South American rivals Chile 3-0 in their round of 16 match overnight. The Brazilians, whose approach has been described as pragmatic by some, showed the perfect combination of defence and attack in dismantling the Chileans. After a fairly neutral first half an hour, Brazil took the game by the scruff of the neck with a magical four minute burst. First Juan powerfully headed home a Maicon corner to give Brazil the lead, before a beautiful attacking combination started by Robinho, set up by Kaka, and finished by Luis Fabiano, doubled Brazil's advantage going into the break. A cracking strike from Robinho just before the hour mark made it 3-0, and put Chile on the next plane home to South America. The performance of the Brazilian's was almost perfect, and while they created some good attacking thrusts, the Chileans failed to produce the final ball with the same quality as Brazil, and as a result they never really troubled Julio Cesar in the Brazilian goal. Dunga will be rapt with the performance of his team who bounced back from a tepid display against Portugal in their last group game to show the kind of cutting attack they displayed in their group stage victory over Cote d'Ivoire.

Their opponents in the quarter final will be the Netherlands in a rematch of the 1998 semi-final. The Dutch were never really troubled in grinding out a 2-1 win over Slovakia, despite playing out most of the match with only a single goal lead thanks to Arjen Robben, who made his first start at the tournament after coming back from injury. The result was all but confirmed when Wesley Sneijder slotted a second with 5 minutes to go, and despite conceding a late penalty, which was slotted by Robert Vittek, the Dutch cruised through to the next round.

Quarter Final Matches - Netherlands ($2.88) v Brazil ($1.52)

What We Learned - That Brazil are the deserving outright favourites to take home the 6th trophy. They have looked devastating on the attack when they are given any space, and have only conceded two goals so far - both due to drops in concentration when they already had matches in their keeping. You would think now that a superb performance from the Dutch would be the only thing stopping Brazil storming into another final.

The Falcon's Spud of the Day - Sydney weather (cold, chance of freezing) - The Sydney winter has hit a cold snap unrivalled in living memory (which for me living here is just over 2 years). It is hard enough to crawl out of bed at 4:30 in the morning without the living room conditions replicating that of an Antarctic base. Even a strong pot of coffee and multiple blankets is barely enough to keep yourself awake at these temperatures.

Tonight's Games - The second round concludes and fans all around the world will celebrate at finally getting a couple of nights uninterrupted sleep after 19 nights of consecutive matches. Paraguay and Japan (traditional rivals?) have a golden chance to get themselves to the quarters here, and I think Paraguay will continue the South American dominance at this tournament by advancing. The other game seems a mammoth Iberian derby between Spain and Portgual. Despite not having beaten Portugal in a competitive fixture since 1934, I expect the Spaniards will get the job done here....just!

Suggested Investment - The second round has been good to us so let's keep going with backing teams to advance. Tonight a multi with Paraguay and Spain looks the best way to go. It will be short but sweet.

Prices courtesy of Betfair.