Late goals from Wesley Sneijder and Klaas Jan Huntelaar broke Mexican hearts as Netherlands battled back from a 48th minute Gio dos Santos opener to win 2-1. This is the sixth consecutive World Cup Mexico have been eliminated in the round of 16.

Last week Dan analyzed how Mexico continued to offer an attacking threat after taking the lead in their final group game against Croatia. As is often the case when a side takes a lead, Mexico conceded some possession to Croatia after the goal and defended slightly deeper but pushed numbers forward on the counter and were a real threat. They were rewarded with two insurance goals and comfortably saw out a 3-1 win.

Their approach today after dos Santos's opener was different. Javier Aquino replaced dos Santos in the 61st minute and slid into the right side of midfield, changing Mexico's shape from 3-5-2 to more of a 5-4-1. The change left Oribe Peralta (and then Javier Hernandez when he replaced Peralta) isolated up front when Mexico won back possession. They had no outlet pass to allow them to counter and quickly gave possession back to the Netherlands, inviting wave after wave of second half pressure. The graphics below illustrate Mexico's inability to offer an attacking threat after taking the lead. Up until dos Santos's goal Mexico produced 7 shots to just 1 for the Netherlands. After the goal Mexico produced just 3 shots to 12 for Netherlands.

Mexico with 7 shots in the opening 48 minutes to Netherlands 1.

Netherlands with 12 shots after dos Santos's goal to 3 for Mexico

Mexico's attacking third passing statistics were similar to the Netherlands before the goal. They completed 38 attacking third passes in the first 48 minutes, Netherlands completed 41. Following the goal Mexico completed only 24 attacking third passes while Netherlands completed 43.

Attacking third passes up to dos Santos's opener.

Attacking third passes after dos Santos's opener

It was a shame Miguel Herrera was so reactive when his side went ahead. They had been the better side throughout the first half, looking comfortable defensively and producing some decent scoring opportunities of their own on the break. They allowed a Dutch side that had been ponderous to attack for long periods of time without having to worry much about being picked off on the break. Louis Van Gaal made an intelligent change in shape from 3-5-2 to more of a 4-2-3-1 in the second half, knowing a third center back was unnecessary while Mexico were playing so deep. Had Herrera stuck with his approach against Croatia and not given the Netherlands so much respect in the second half, Mexico may well have broken their round of 16 losing streak.

Brazil are through on penalties. It's disappointing to see the tournament's most tactically exciting team in Chile eliminated in this fashion.

The first half was exceptional and was defined by both teams pressing high up the pitch. Brazil had the better opening half, winning back possession in Chile's half and attacking quickly and directly. It appeared that Scolari was looking to kill the game off early then sit deeper in the second half and protect the lead, knowing his side wouldn't have the legs to maintain their relentless pressing for 90 minutes. The strategy probably should have worked. Brazil got their early lead and had chances to add to it. Had they bagged a second it would have been a long way back for Chile.

Hulk's mistake that led to Alexis Sanchez's equalizer made life difficult for Brazil in the second half. Having used so much energy to press in the first half, they looked tired after the break and couldn't move the ball with enough pace to trouble Chile in the attacking third. They defended deeper, didn't put the Chile midfielders under pressure and it was all fairly comfortable for the visitors. The graphic below shows Brazil's tackles in the first half compared to the second half. In the first half they were winning the ball back higher up the pitch, leaving Chile's defense out of position. In the second half they were winning the ball back in deeper areas but failed to create much on the counter. Chile play with three center backs so are a different team to exploit on the break.

Chile, a side used to pressing for the full 90 minutes, looked the much better side. A fine save from Julio Cesar to deny Charles Aranguiz and Mauricio Pinilla's late effort off the crossbar nearly put the host nation out of the tournament.

The pressing made for a somewhat sloppy encounter. Neither side had time on the ball so we didn't see many long spells of possession or patient passing moves up the pitch. Brazil completed just 69% of their second half passes, a remarkably low number for such a talented side.