Iker Casillas swept his gaze from the damp turf, seemingly fixated upon something non-existent as the stadium pulsated with euphoria around him. Perhaps towards the demons which seemed to haunt the 24 yards of space in between his posts, while something near-supernatural occurred on the pitch far beyond the confines of his six-yard box.
His teammates stood disbelieving, as the world followed suit.
Early running from the likes of David Silva, Andres Iniesta and Diego Costa ensured that Vicente del Bosque’s side headed into the half-time break on level terms. The latter, preying on a stray leg from Stefan de Vrij, ensured that Xabi Alonso had the opportunity to thump the dead ball home from 12 yards.
A minute before the break, Robin van Persie looped home a header which is destined to be immortalised in Dutch cartoons. A case of Daley Blind having got his angles right to the metre and the recipient of his cross mimicking the mathematical mastery with his forehead.
For it was the Dutch who had their system entirely figured out, to the very yard. Each ‘t’ crossed and each ‘i’ painstakingly dotted by the hand of Louis van Gaal – Blind ensured that Cesar Azpilicueta had little opportunity to contribute offensively from the right, while Daryl Janmaat did the same on the left – a case of Dutch symmetry.
De Vrij and Bruno Martins Indi took their turns to track the likes of Silva and Iniesta, even beyond the Dutch midfield, as Van Gaal’s deployment of a right-back at wing-back enabled Janmaat to tuck in as he saw fit. The Oranje system was simply more flexible.
In South Africa, the onus was on the breath-taking and constant rotation of Spain’s attacking options, with La Roja the epitome of fluidity. Four years later, the footballing world is singing the praises of a Dutch side whose fundamentals were so structurally sound that their more vibrant offensive options had the chance to glisten in the torrential Salvador rain.
The “olé”s rang out in the near-monsoon, but the usual beneficiaries of such praise were those in chase of the ball.
Two excellent goals from Arjen Robben ensured that the flying Dutch counter-attacks continued to bear fruit, as Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos were exposed with ruthless efficiency. Personifying La Furia, Diego Costa gave into his own inner demons, covertly headbutting Martins Indi with the Brazil-born forward fortunate to profit from the referee’s negligence.
A second-half to forget, an experience to build upon. Another Switzerland. The sense of expectation surrounding Spain has perhaps been temporarily dispelled, but for long periods La Roja enjoyed plenty of possession. Iniesta showed cutting edge from the left, with Xavi having some influence in a more advanced area.
Is this the end of tiki-taka, or the end of an era for the Spanish national team? Certainly not, but it definitely suggests that other ingenious managers have La Roja’s number.
Del Bosque’s bold pre-match press conference words may continue something of hubris now, but his side have been in this position before.
