Brazil's Kaka (R) vies with Mark Van Bommel of the Netherlands during the 2010 World Cup round of 8 soccer match at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth,South Africa, on July 2, 2010.(Xinhua/Liao Yujie)

By Sportswriter Cao Jianjie

PORT ELIZABETH, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Netherlands eliminated 10-man Brazil 2-1 in a hot-tempered clash of titans to advance into the World Cup semifinals on Saturday.

The Brazilians controlled the first half where the five-time champions opened scoring through Robinho at the 10th minute, but they became edgy after Felipe Melo's own goal and lost composure after Wesley Sneijder's late goal.

Dunga's side started aggressively. Two minutes after Robinho's goal was annulled for Dani Alves being in offside, Felipe Melo delivered from halfway line a simple pass to unmarked Robinho, who took the ball to the edge of the penalty area and slotted past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Arjen Robben, who was the nearest Dutch "defender" to Robinho, seemed dazed when the Santos striker swept past him and scored Brazil's opening goal.

The Netherlands fought back as Mark van Bommel set up Dirk Kuyt down their left and his shot was saved at the near post by Julio Cesar.

At the 25th minute, the Netherlands failed to clear a corner and Dani Alves took the possession and sent a cross to Juan, who blazed over the bar from several meters away.

The Brazilians gave the Dutch keeper one more scare at the 32nd minute as Robinho jinked between two defenders and passed the ball to Luis Fabiano, who flicked it to Kaka. The Real Madrid midfielder wasted no time to curl a shot to an upper corner of the net, which was saved by Stekelenburg.