Netherlands humiliate Spain in Salvador

Doubles from Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, and a Stefan de Vrij goal gave Netherlands a resounding 5-1 win over Spain on Friday.

In what was a re-run of the 2010 World Cup final, Vicente del Bosque gave Diego Costa his first competitive start for the national team, supported by David Silva and Andres Iniesta up front. The Dutch meanwhile, Van Persie as the lone striker after he recovered from injury concerns, whilst Wesley Sneijder was given his 100th cap.

As with the friendly against El Salvador a week ago, La Roja were looking to mix things up early on, abandoning tiki taka and opting for long, diagonals instead. On more than one occasion, Xabi Alonso looked over the top for Diego Costa – but it failed to work in the opening exchanges.

That same tactic was working for Louis van Gaal’s men though, as with 10 minutes gone, Robben raced through on goal. In a repeat of the 2010 final however, Iker Casillas saved one-on-one.

As expected, the Spanish were enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but were struggling to do anything with it. Twice David Silva played in Costa, but the Atletico Madrid striker was caught in two minds on both occasions.

The third time Costa was put through though, there was no mistake. The Brazil-born goalscorer went inside De Vrij, but the defender took down the Atleti man, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Alonso, who blasted low to the goalkeeper’s right and into the back of the net.

David Silva had a great attempt to make it 2-0 late on, but the Manchester City man rued his missed chance, as with just seconds left, Van Persie headed Daley Blind’s long ball over Casillas, and into the net for the equaliser.

After the interval, it was the Dutch who enjoyed the majority of the possession, and they made it count on 53 minutes. A pass from Blind found Robben, who took the ball out of the air, beat Gerard Pique inside the area, and rifled a shot past Casillas to make it 2-1.

Spain were looking vulnerable through the middle of the park, and the game was almost out of reach on the hour mark. A lung-bursting run from Robben saw the Bayern Munich winger reach the edge of the area, before laying off for Van Persie on the right-hand side. The Manchester United striker caught the ball perfectly on the half-volley, but his effort crashed back off the bar.

Eventually however, a third did come. A free kick from Sneijder on the left went all the way to the back post, and there was De Vrij to head into an empty net.

And amazingly, with still 15 minutes to go, Van Persie made it 4-1. Casillas hesitated on the ball after a back pass, and the former Arsenal striker pounced to tackle the shot-stopper and slot home.

Del Bosque’s side were shell-shocked, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Robben raced, from the halfway line, past Ramos, dribbled around Casillas, and netted Holland’s fifth of the night to truly avenge the final defeat of four years’ previous.

Spain 1-5 Netherlands

Scorers: Alonso pen 27 (S); Van Persie 44, 73 (N), Robben 53, 81 (N), De Vrij 65 (N)

Spain: Casillas; Azpilicueta, Pique, Ramos, Alba; Busquets, Alonso (Pedro 62), Xavi; Silva (Cesc 78), Iniesta, Costa (Torres 62)

Netherlands: Cillessen; Janmaat, Vlaar, De Vrij (Veltman 76), Martins Indi, Blind; De Jong, De Guzman (Wijnaldum 62), Sneijder; Robben, Van Persie

Referee: Rizzoli (ITA)

Tags Netherlands Spain World Cup 2014
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