Match-day three and Spain are already out of contention! It still hasn’t quite sunk in for me; it’s not so much the fact that they’re out but that they went out with a bit of a whimper. Today the two teams that knocked Spain out took each other on as Louis Van Gaal’s tactically astute Holland faced the tireless Chileans for top spot in Group B. Van Gaal had made much before the game of the fact that Group B would be concluded before Group A which could favour Brazil; putting the politics to one side now though, read on to check our thoughts on how these two teams got on today!
Chile had most of the possession in the opening exchanges but not in dangerous areas as Holland were getting a lot of bodies behind the ball, pressing any player coming inside their half; Chile were pressing similarly high, even higher at times. Chile definitely had the better start; Holland’s game-plan of sitting back and absorbing the pressure to hit on the break is very risky at the best of times but against opposition of this calibre it seemed a very dangerous tactic indeed – early on though, Holland were dealing with the danger fairly well.
As always though, when you keep giving sides chances, they’re going to keep getting closer and closer and this was the case with Chile as they kept getting closer and closer to making Holland’s net bulge. Sanchez and Vargas were at the centre of everything early on for the Chileans, spreading the play and capitalising on a very narrow Holland set-up; they were yet to have a clear-cut chance but it didn’t seem like it’d be a long time before they got one.
With 20 minutes gone it was still goalless but it was definitely Chile’s game up to that point. Sanchez showed great ingenuity pulling a corner routine straight from the training ground, playing a low, driven ball towards the penalty spot where Gutierrez had made a good curling run before the midfielder struck his shot over.
A pretty stale 10 minute period followed before Robben acted as the catalyst that brought a sparkle back to the game. Leading a three-man counter attack for the Dutch, the winger took the ball closer and closer to the Chilean penalty area before trying to lay the ball off to De Jong but it was a very poor pass. The second wave of attackers followed in for the Dutch but couldn’t trouble the Chilean defence. Robben then went down under after being brought down on the edge of the Chilean box. Bringing about the best chance of the game up to that point. Robben took the free-kick from the corner of the box, swinging a very inviting ball in towards Chile’s far post; the delivery was met by De Vrij who got a good contact on the ball but could only head wide – a glorious chance for the Dutch!
Chile then attempted to respond but Robben was soon causing them trouble again. Picking the ball up on the half-way line, the Dutchman made his way forward before weaving and shimmying his way past a few defenders on the edge of the box, drifting out the left-hand side of the box and unleashing a low drive that skidded wide of the Chilean far post. Gutierrez again then gave Holland something to think about as he wondered a few yards away from the Dutch defence with a free-kick coming in and managed to get a head on the ball, relatively unchallenged, but could only head wide.
A solid effort from both teams in the first half; Robben and Sanchez were at the heart of everything for their respective sides but a bit more cutting edge was needed in the second half if either side were to seize the initiative. The opening exchanges of the second half were much more end-to-end than the opening exchanges of the first but this time Holland seemed a bit more in control, pressing much higher up the pitch than they had in the first half, definitely instructed to do so by Van Gaal at half-time and it seemed to be having the desired effect.
Holland were much more composed in the second half as roles were very much reversed from the previous period with Chile penned back in their own half and being confined to the occasional counter-attack. Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt and Depay each went very close for the Dutch before their persistence and Van Gaal’s tweaks finally paid off as Holland went into the lead. Off of the back of a brilliant effort Depay that was equally brilliantly tipped over by Claudio Bravo for the corner, Leroy Fer rose with his first touch of the game to bury the set-piece into the bottom corner of the Chilean net and give Holland a 1-0 lead.
After the goal, Chile kept knocking and knocking at the door to get the equaliser, most of their efforts coming from set-pieces, but couldn’t break down the Dutch rear-guard no matter how hard they tried. Holland soon put the result beyond all doubt as they deferred to type and blew Chile away with a blistering counter-attack led by Arjen Robben. Steaming his way down the left flank, leaving defenders for dead, the Bayern Munich winger was forced wide upon reaching the box but expertly cut the ball back for the onrushing Memphis Depay to bury Holland’s second goal and kill off the game in the dying seconds.
Holland then qualified top of the group and, bar a massive shock, avoid a clash with the hosts in the next round. Chile tasted defeat for the first time in the tournament but the score-line somewhat flatters the Dutch – they were worthy of their two goals but Chile should have had at least one goal. Alas that never materialised – stick with us here to see how Chile and Holland do in the knockout rounds!