Netherlands Take Revenge, Stun Spain

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Defending World Cup champions Spain were in action today in a first round match against the Netherlands.  In the 2010 World Cup final Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-nil in overtime to lift the Cup.  Today the result was quite different as the Dutch punished Spain for their previous heart-break.

Spain fielded a similar line-up to that during the Euros and the Confederations Cup with one major exception.  Diego Costa got the start for Spain at striker after choosing not to play for Brazil.  The striker helped Spain take the lead when he won a penalty kick in the first-half.  Dutch defender Stefan De Vrij missed his slide tackle on Diego Costa in the box and the spot-kick was given for Spain.  Xabi Alonso took the shot and scored the penalty with a well placed drive to the corner (27').

Not shaken by the deficit, the Netherlands responded just before half-time to level the score.  Daley Blind played an early cross into the box to pick out Robin Van Persie.  The Dutch captain timed his run well to stay on-sides and with his first touch struck a perfect header that beat Spanish keeper Iker Casillas (44').

In the second-half Spain's defense fell apart and captain Casillas was a complete mess between the posts.  Arjen Robben scored shortly after the break to give the Dutch the lead.  A great first touch to trap the ball inside the box set him up for a second touch around defender Pique before beating the keeper (53').

Not long after falling behind Spain elected to make a pair of changes removing Diego Costa and Xabi Alonso for Torres and Pedro.  However as soon as the two came into the match, the Netherlands extended the lead on a set-piece.  Sneijder delivered the free-kick into the box and Dutch centerback De Vrij scored at the back-post (64').

Later Van Persie scored another goal when Casillas coughed up the ball after mishandeling a back-pass.  Van Persie was quick to snatch the ball away from the keeper and fire off a shot on an empty net (72').  Then Robben scored a second goal when a long ball played forward gave him room to out-run Sergio Ramos.  Casillas attempted to stop Robben's run by coming off his line, but the Dutch forward confidently dribbled around the keeper and scored the final goal of the match (80').

The Dutch successfully got revenge on the team that kept them from lifting the trophy four years ago and will be favored to win the group.  Australia and Chile make up the rest of the group, but do not have much of a chance to reach the knock-out rounds.  Spain do not need to panic just yet and should be able to advance out of the group stage despite today's poor performance.  Once they do get out though, they will have to play much better against the next level of competition.