Chinks In Spanish Armada

I am not one of those football fans who give their Circadian rhythm a miss to see their favorite stars in action at the other end of the globe. However I decided to make an exception for Holland's clash with Spain. Somehow Spain's victory last World Cup had not got down well with me - after all how can a team that had scored only eight goals (five of them by David Villa) in the whole tournament be considered a champion! And I could never forgive them for beating Germany in semi-finals.

The game began with the Spaniards dominating with their tiki taka brand of football, while the Dutch appeared to be  still carrying the ghost of last World Cup defeat in final on the back of their minds. The latter were playing a very aggressive physical soccer (remember Nigel de Jong landing his boot on the chest of Xabi Alonso in 2010 World Cup) with frequent fouls and acrimonious run ins with the referee, and one of those instances cost them dear as the Spaniards were rewarded a penalty. Veteran Xabi Alonso made no mistake, despite Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen's valiant attempt.

With Spain up 1-0 a sense of deja vu dawned upon me, I thought now they will while away rest of the time by keeping  possession of the ball and use all out efforts prevent opponents from scoring. That has been their game plan and they have been pretty successful in it. But they couldn't hold the Dutch for long. Just before half time captain Robin van Persie went airborne to score a header that is already being touted as the best goal of the world cup.

With their advantage frittered away the Spaniards looked beaten and hardly looked threatening for the rest of game. The team’s dearth of finishers was sorely exposed. On the other hand the spectacular equaliser acted like a tonic for the Dutch. They regained their poise and began playing their natural game and the number of fouls came down drastically.

Dutch winger Arjen Robben who had a score to settle for not being able to get past Iker Casillas' adept hands in the previous World Cup made merry by scoring a brace. His first goal during which he had Casillas on all fours and in near tears, is considered the fastest sprint recorded in World Cup.  

For the Spaniards this was a sledgehammer awakening. Last year too they had a jittery start with 0-1 loss to Switzerland. But the Swiss win seemed more like a fluke, whereas the Dutch hammering was very clinical and emphatic. The fading prowess of ageing stars like Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta stood exposed and they need to do some drastic regrouping to stay anywhere in the reckoning.

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