Netherlands 2, Slovakia 1
The Netherlands’ Arjen Robben missed the first two group matches with a hamstring injury but was back in fine form Monday. He scored the game’s first goal in the 18th minute, to the delight of the mostly orange-clad crowd at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
A sharp Netherlands offense, featuring Robben and standout Wesley Sneijder, took advantage of an empty net left by Slovak keeper Jan Mucha in the 84th minute that doubled the Dutch lead.
Slovakia had its two best opportunities to score in the 67th minute when Maarten Stekelenburg tipped a shot from Miroslav Stoch over the crossbar and Robert Vittek, tied for the tournament scoring lead, fired a shot too close to the goalkeeper.
Vittek scored the team’s only goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 90th minute.
With Monday’s win, the Netherlands kept a team-record 23-game win streak alive, and will play five-time champion Brazil in the next round on Friday, July 2.
Brazil 3, Chile 0
Five-time World Cup champion Brazil made easy work of Chile on Monday afternoon, defeating its South American rival 3-0.
Juan opened the scoring with a header off a corner kick in the 34th minute, and that was all Brazil would need to advance to the quarterfinals. Luis Fabiano added a tally in the 38th, and Robinho scored his first goal of the tournament in the 59th minute to cap off the victory.
Chile did not go down without a fight, though, as both teams had equal time of possession in the match. It was also in the unfortunate position of being without starting defenders Gary Medel and Waldo Ponce, due to yellow card infractions.
Brazil will take on the Netherlands in the next round on Friday, July 2.
Round of 16 (winners in bold)
Uruguay vs. South Korea
USA vs. Ghana
Germany vs. England
Argentina vs. Mexico
The Netherlands vs. Slovakia
Brazil vs. Chile
Paraguay vs. Japan
Spain vs. Portugal
Coming Up: Paraguay takes on Japan on June 29 at 10 a.m. ET.
Here's the complete World Cup schedule.
