Thoughts on ESP vs NED 1 – 5
To sum it up in the words of Roberto Palomar, a noted Spanish journalist writing for Marca:
Spain were run over by an articulated lorry. And Holland’s lorry did not just run them over, it then cranked into reverse and went back over Spain’s dead body four times.
I ended my Group-stage predictions for the Netherlands’ World Cup 2014 campaign by saying:
Everyone knows what the Dutch are capable of. On their day, Robben and company can spring quite the surprise.
Up until half-time at the Arena Fonte Nova, my prediction of 1 – 1 seemed to be going on-track. But then, something happened. Four goals later, the scoreboard read 1 – 5, with the Netherlands creating history by the sheer margin of defeat inflicted on a reigning World champion.
Many Oranje fans (like me) were concerned about the unusual 5−3−2 formation:
Louis van Gaal better be sure what he’s doing with that 5−3−2. Get that left-back position sorted out!
It turned out to be a master-stroke from Louis van Gaal. Manchester United are in safe hands. The “kids” really delivered, something I tweeted about as well:
This fourth goal is dedicated to all the haters who poked fun at the kids from the Eredivisie. They don’t have the experience, they said.
Kudos to Daley Blind for his vision and execution on those excellent long-balls that found van Persie and Robben. Daryl Janmaat and Bruno Martins-Indi (despite getting head-butted) had a great match as well.
Arjen Robben turned Sergio Ramos inside out on both occasions that he scored. He also put the ghost of 2010 to rest by beating Iker Casillas not once, but twice.
But the goal of the game could only be van Persie’s. He has already admitted it is his best ever goal.
That meme is only one of many the Internet exploded with after the match.
We still have Australia and Chile to go. My previous predictions remain unchanged. Come on you Dutch! Hup Holland hup!