One of those lovely games, as enticing as cool sheets on a hot night. It should be the final. The two most accomplished sides in the tournament; the two sides who are easiest on the eye; the two sets of fans who are noisiest on the ears; the two teams whose colours, deportment and philosophy are the essence of the competition. And somebody has to lose.
There are little chinks in both teams' armour. The Brazilians are extraordinarily persuasive when going forward, but in retreat they have had moments which should haunt them. The loss to Norway at the end of the first round has generally been excused as being a product of those two teams' different priorities on the night.
Yet, those wrinkles have been seen before and since. The Norwegians hustled the Brazilians all night, just as they had done a year previously when sticking four goals past them in a friendly. Just like the Scots did to a lesser extent in St Denis on opening day and the more fluent Danes did in the quarter-final in Nantes.
The Brazilians have some alarming frailties in defence. The moment which will be shown again and again will be Roberto Carlos's comically dumb attempt to effect a panic clearance by means of a bicycle kick against Denmark. A goal came of that and one assumes no Brazilian will be so foolish again. Of more interest to the Dutch will be the half dozen clear-cut chances which the Danes carved out, then fluffed, before the end of the game in Nantes. Stretched under pressure the Brazilian defence fell apart like an old pair of tights.
And the Dutch have the ability to cause grief. Bergkamp's confidence and authority has grown. The decision of Hiddink to recall Kluivert for the last game was justified by a more generous than usual performance by the player. Throw in the wriggling skills of Ronald de Boer and just possibly Overmars, plus the dreadlocked dash of Davids. It's impossible to see the Dutch being held scoreless.
So can Brazil out-score Holland?
The Dutch are facing a plague on their defence. Numan is suspended. With freakish bad luck, Bogarde, his natural replacement, broke his ankle in training on Sunday. Full back Reiziger is doubtful. Veteran Aron Winter? Ditto.
The options are down to three. Hiddink can ask Frank de Boer to move out to the right back slot, thus leaving a slightly unsteady Jaap Stam in the company of an inferior central defensive partner. He can move Cocu back to defence. Cocu has played as a striker and left-sided midfielder and filled in at left back for a short period after Numan's departure against Argentina.
Otherwise Hiddink can bite the bullet and pick PSV defender Andre Ooijer, who has never been capped. The smart money is on Cocu dropping back and Zenden coming in at midfield with perhaps a cameo from Overmars late on.
The consolation for Hiddink lies in the enforced absence through suspension of Cafu on the right side of the Brazilian defence. Mario Zagallo has already announced that he will fill the vacancy by giving a debut to Ze Carlos. That flank may have two debutants ferrying up and down. Ze Carlos's presence doesn't, of course, mean that Rivaldo will be absent. Much responsibility lies therefore on whoever mans the Dutch flank positions.
The trouble with moving Frank de Boer to a more peripheral position at this stage of the tournament are two-pronged. Ronaldo and Bebeto are the names of the prongs.
Against the Danes, Ronaldo exhibited a side to his game not always appreciated, dropping back deep to the eternal distraction of the Danish defence, before slipping exquisite passes back into dangerous territory. He was the creator of two goals in such circumstances.
The bet is, however, that in central midfield Davids and either Jonk or Seedorf will present a bigger challenge than Helveg and Neilsen did on behalf of the Danes. Dunga is 35 now and his job is keyholder rather than runner. When the Brazilians hold the initiative he is superb. When they are harried he is harried, too.
Beside him Cesar Sampaio is adventurous and wingers Rivaldo and Leonardo do so much more than merely steam to the byline to return hopeful crosses. Frank de Boer has had a wonderful tournament, however, and his anticipation will be a key tonight.
Stam got through the Argentina game with a booking, but no major mishap, and at times looked like a quite valuable asset if not £10.5 million worth. Holland's other major injury worry is winger Overmars. He appeared briefly as a substitute on Saturday against Argentina, playing well but inflicting further damage on his hamstring in the process. He is rated 70 per cent doubtful. In his absence Zenden should get the call, unless Cocu escapes the full back chores.
The Dutch have won their last two matches with sublime last-minute goals. Against Denmark the Brazilians defended with comical ineptitude at times, but attacked with cavalier swagger.
What does it mean? Time to be brave, even foolhardy. Holland to sneak it.
