Spain Coach
Netherlands Coach Louis van Gaal
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head- This is the first time in World Cup history that the finalists from the previous tournament have met in their first game.
- Spain lead by five wins to four from their 10 previous meetings. The only draw was a friendly match in Barcelona in 1987 that finished 1-1.
- Their only previous World Cup encounter was in the 2010 final, which Spain won 1-0
- Spain have 16 returning players from their squad at the 2010 tournament - the Netherlands have seven.
- The defending world champions have only won their first game in three of the last 10 World Cups (D4, L3). Italy drew 1-1 with Paraguay in 2010.
- Spain lost their opening game of the 2010 World Cup to Switzerland, but went on to become the first team to win the tournament having lost their first game.
- That defeat to the Swiss is the only match that coach Vicente del Bosque has lost in 25 World Cup fixtures, including qualifiers (W22, D2).
- They won 1-0 in all four knockout matches at the 2010 World Cup. Only Italy (five games in 1990) and Switzerland (five in 2006 & 2010) have ever had a longer run of clean sheets in the competition.
- Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is three World Cup clean sheets short of matching the 10-game record shared by England's Peter Shilton and France's Fabien Barthez. Casillas has gone 433 consecutive minutes unbeaten - a clean sheet against the Dutch would see him surpass the record of 517 minutes set by Italy's Walter Zenga in 1990.
- In 2010, Spain became the lowest-scoring winners of a World Cup finals, scoring just eight goals in seven matches.
- Manchester United duo David de Gea and Juan Mata are the only members of the Spain squad not to have played for a club that qualified for the Champions League this season.
- David Villa - Spain's top scorer at World Cup finals with eight goals - has been directly involved in seven of Spain's last nine goals in the tournament (six goals, one assist).
- The Netherlands have made it past the group stage in their last seven World Cup appearances, reaching the final three times.
- Robin van Persie was the top European scorer in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers with 11 goals.
- Wesley Sneijder is expected to become the sixth Dutchman to win 100 caps. Dirk Kuyt could win his 99th.
- The Netherlands have won 63% of their World Cup matches outside Europe, compared to just 42% on European soil.
Dutch Stun Defending World Champions Spain by beating 5-1
Spain’s worst defeat since a 1963 reverse to Scotland, this was more than a setback. This was a humiliating, humbling capitulation, a defeat that asks as much about the mental fortitude of Vicente del Bosque’s team as it does their hapless defending.It was Spain’s heaviest defeat since Scotland beat them 6-2 in 1963.
Portugal beat them 4-0 in 2010.
Spain last conceded three in Brazil in the Confederations Cup final last June (lost 3-0 to Brazil (Fred 2, Neymar).
They last conceded two to Group B rivals Chile in a friendly in September 2013
They lost WC opener to Switzerland in 2010 (0-1, Gelson Fernandes).
Some defeats in sport represent more than the loss of a solitary contest and this was one of them.
- Xabi Alonso gave Spain the lead from penalty spot in World Cup Group B
- Van Persie equalised for Holland with a flying header
- Robben put them ahead with a superb strike after beating Gerard Pique
- Stefan de Vrij bundled home No 3
- Van Persie took advantage of Iker Casillas' mistake to make it four
- Robben rounded off the devastating victory
Goal Scorers
For Spain -Xabi Alonso(27 th minute penalty)
For Netherlands -Robin van Persie(44 & 72),Arjen Robben(53 & 80) and Stefan de Vrij(64)
Robin van Persie hurls himself through the air to score a superb equaliser
Robin Van Persie robs Iker Casillas to poke home Holland's fourth goal
Robben slams home Holland's fifth goal in their stunning victory
Xabi Alonso rolls his penalty to the right of Jasper Cillessen and into the corner
Spanish
newspaper Marca has torn into the national side following their 5-1
defeat to Holland, running a predominantly black front page with the
blunt headline: ‘FIX THIS’.
The
paper also highlights the role Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie played
in Holland’s brilliant dismantling of the reigning world and European
champions, as future Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal’s side struck
four times after the break.
But below the picture of Iker
Casillas looking distraught, the paper does offer some hope, saying:
'Chile and Australia, two games to demonstrate the talent and football
that made us champions. Believe.'
Four goals is the biggest losing margin by a defending champion
Squads
Spain
- 01 Casillas Booked
- 22 Azpilicueta
- 18 Alba
- 14 Alonso (Pedro - 63' )
- 03 Piqué
- 15 Ramos
- 21 Silva (Fábregas - 78' )
- 16 Busquets
- 19 Diego Costa (Torres - 62' )
- 08 Xavi
- 06 Iniesta
Netherlands
- 01 Cillessen
- 07 Janmaat
- 05 Blind
- 04 Martins Indi
- 02 Vlaar
- 03 de Vrij Booked (Veltman - 77' )
- 08 de Guzmán Booked (Wijnaldum - 62' )
- 06 de Jong
- 10 Sneijder
- 09 van Persie Booked (Lens - 79' )
- 11 Robben
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