REVIEW: Spain v Netherlands – La Roja Wedding complete
In the first high-profile match of the World Cup, the rematch of the 2010 final in South Africa saw Spain square off against Louis van Gaal’s re-tinkered Dutch side in Salvador. Seeking revenge from the final four years ago, the Netherlands put Spain to the sword in ruthless fashion in a 5-1 display that has left many purring.
It has largely been discussed if Spain would come to this tournament and fulfill expectations of their past successes, but the Netherlands showed that they have moved on and have the motivation to set the record straight. The tinkering and deployment in a 5-3-2 reaped massive rewards for Louis van Gaal’s men, once they found their footing, they were sensational going forward. Here is our match review and player ratings
"Starting XI’sSpain – Casillas; Jordi Alba, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Azpilicueta; Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez; Andres Iniesta, Diego Costa, David SilvaNetherlands – Cillessen; Daley Blind, Bruno Martins Indi, Stefan De Vrij, Ron Vlaar, Daryl Janmaat; Nigel de Jong, Julian de Guzman; Wesley Sneijder; Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben"
First Half
The first fifteen minutes would be largely uneventful, however Sneijder found himself through on goal inside the first ten minutes, but his effort as straight at Casillas. A better effort would have given the Dutch a much needed early lead, as Spain possessed the ball in their usual fashion. Diego Costa was lively, getting into space behind the Netherlands back line on numerous occasions, but his one good chance to look at goal was snuffed out by Vlaar. Despite their relative inexperience internationally, the back line for the Dutch settled nicely, with Vlaar keeping Costa in his back pocket early on.
Spain started to settle in the middle third of the half, their possession started to find some of the seams in the Netherlands back line, and they would be rewarded in the 26th minute. Costa was put into space, Vlaar and De Vrij both tracked back and at first look De Vrij brought down Costa in the box – penalty awarded. Replays would clearly show that Costa blatantly dove, and even stamped on De Vrij in the process. Never the less, Xabi Alonso stepped up to convert the chance to put Spain 1-0 up inside the first 30minutes.
The final fifteen of the half would see the Dutch begin to counter Spain far more effectively. Costa would go down in the box again on a Spanish corner but to no avail. Less than two minutes before half time, Robin van Persie submitted his effort for goal of the tournament when he acrobatically chipped the on-coming Casillas with a header that looped over and into the back of the net after a brilliant ball from Daley Blind. Despite Spain’s overall dominance of possession, the Dutch counter attacking system began to come to the fore in all the right ways, and the half would end level 1-1.
Second Half
The second half began on evens, both sides too tempered to go for it from the off, but then that would all change. In the 53rd minute, Arjen Robben took down an exquisite long ball in delightful fashion, then beating both Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos before slotting it past Casillas with his preferred left foot. The opening frame of the half also saw Costa head-but Martins Indi in the box before a corner, but avoided being directly sent off. It was obvious however that Spain had fallen off a bit from their first half performance. Robin van Persie nearly made it 3-1 on 60minutes, but his effort came crashing off the bar.
Changes on 60minutes by both sides came in bunches. Pedro and Fernando Torres were introduced at the expense of Alonso and Costa, while Giorginio Wijnaldum came on for De Guzman, who was sub-par at best throughout. The Netherlands would make matters worse on 65minutes when Stefan De Vrij would head home from a Wesley Sneijder free kick despite Casillas claiming he was fouled – it would be the young defenders first goal for his country. The Oranje pressed on well looking for that killer forth, but Spain would nearly score through David Silva, but he was deemed offside.
Van Persie would complete his brace on 72minutes when a back-pass to Casillas was poorly controlled – van Persie pounced on the lose ball, rounding the keeper then sliding on the pitch to slot it home. It was 4-1 to the Dutch and Spain were in disarray. Further changes saw Spain finally bring Chelsea new-boy Cesc Fabregas on in the 77th minute while removing David Silva. The Dutch countered with bringing on the speedy Jermaine Lens for RvP.
Instantly, the Dutch found their fifth – Robben was put through from midfield by Sneijder, he blew by his defenders, rounded Casillas again in fantastic fashion, then finished. His brace complete and the rout was truly on now. Robben as denied his hat trick when Casillas made a pair of strong saves, but the damage was done long before. Full Time ended at 5-1. The Dutch were simply fantastic in the second half after finding their footing in the first half.
Man-of-the-Match:
You could easily say Robin van Persie for his brilliant brace, Blind for his excellent defending plus his two magnificent assists, or Sneijder with the way he pulled the strings and had two excellent assists, but truly, it goes to Arjen Robben. He was magnificent throughout, his pace and ability to run behind the defense came to the fore – he even bagged a brace of his own and the Spanish back-line had no answer for him.
"Player Ratings for SpainCasillas: 3.5 – Apart from the two decent saves he made to deny the Dutch a sixth, he was horrible throughout – surely De Gea starts the next match.Alba: 4.5 – Was a non-factor going forward in the attack and was a liability at the back, like the rest of the Spanish defense.Pique: 4 – Found out by both Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben far too frequently in the second half.Ramos: 5 – Only marginally better than the rest of his defense, and that is not saying much.Azpilicueta: 4.5 – Largely absent as well, not much more needs to be said there.Busquets: 5.5 – Had a decent first half, but midfield control was lost in large parts in the second half. Did nothing to help Spain regain the matchXavi: 5.5 – Much like Busquets had a decent first half, but cannot be relied on to in the ball back in the second half and disappeared from proceedingsAlonso: 6.0 – Scored Spain’s goal from the spot and was decent, but nothing more.Iniesta: 5.5 – He did well early on in his usual manner, but he fell off once the Dutch defense found their footingCosta: 5.5 – Won his team a penalty, and his movement off the ball in the first half as strong, but disappeared quickly as the match progressedSilva: 5.5 – Made himself a nuisance a time or two, ad a goal disallowed, but was no where near his form from Manchester CityPedro: 4.0 – Came on in the 77th minute as a sub but made zero contributions to the match.Torres: 4.0 – Completely fluffed a golden opportunity, compounding questions as to why he is even in Brazil with the national team.Fabregas: 4.0 – Much like Pedro, he came on for the final segments of the match but was unable to do much at all.Player ratings for the NetherlandsCillessen: 6.5 – He wasn’t bad but he was not called upon as frequently as expected. He was decent really.Blind: 8.0 – Registered two assists (one to Rvp and one to Robben) with a bit of magnificent passing ability. Found his feet and defended well after the initial minutes.Martins Indi: 7.5 – Looked rather shaky in the first 20-25minutes but once he settled, he was quite solid at the back. He looks the part.Vlaar: 7.5 – Marshaled the defense well and his experience came to the fore. He was caught out for lack of pace early on but adjusted well.De Vrij: 7.5 – Cannot be blamed for the penalty awarded against him, but made up for it with his first international goal. Started slow, ended quite strong.Janmaat: 7.5 – Defended very well throughout and kept Iniesta in check much of the time. Did not attack as much, but that was not needed.De Guzman: 6.0 – The worst Dutch player on the night. He never really got going, looked shaky, but he did work hard to right his mistakes at the least.de Jong: 7.0 – His physical presence early could well have put Spain off. Was solid throughout the match but must be careful in future fixtures.Sneijder: 8.5 – Bagged himself two assists and was unlucky to not score late on in the second half as well as in the first. He looks primed (un-shockingly) to make people forget that Rafael van der Vaart is not present.van Persie: 9.0 – He was a constant threat throughout, scored a stunner as part of his brace and was a complete menace to the back-line with his famed off the ball movement.Robben: 9.5 – The man of the match for sure. His pace, directness and ability to blow by the Spanish defense made him a spear to the heart of La Roja – did so well to make their defense look foolish when on the ball as well.Wijnaldum: 6.0 – Came on, worked hard but didn’t contribute much in the final third, but he as decent for as long as he featured.Lens: 6.5 – Introduced for his pace and it proved huge. Nearly set up Sneijder for a sixth for the Dutch after he did well to blow by Azpilicueta but didn’t do much after that."