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by PAM
There was no furia in La Roja during their opening bout with their former challenger in South Africa in 2010 - the mighty Oranje. The flying men in orange, while still pushed and shoved unnecessarily, did not have to resort to judo and karate this time. They beat the Red side, mostly in the second half, in a fashion so reminiscent of the Spaniards' own brand of game for the last six years or so: just beautiful!
Intense... that's what the first 25 minutes or so was like on the pitch: the current World Cup holders asserting their supposed dominance, dancing, creating many chances for themselves... the 2010 challengers weighing their opponents' resolve, poking their
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| I don't mind losing... too much, but how I wish that the score stayed at 1-2 instead of going at 1-5. |
The Brazilian fans are also adding to the intensity... booing Diego Costa loudly, showing their disgust toward the 'traitor' who wears red instead of bright yellow. The 'traitor' is back on Brazilian soil... with his Spanish adoptive comrades. Everytime he made a run for the ball, the stadium erupted in loud boos. While that didn't seem to bother Costa, it seemed to have been shifting the localized sparks of pure energy to the Oranje side.
And, then, Costa was knocked down - hard - to the delight of the (Brazilian?) fans. It happened in the area, and so Xabi Alonso took to the spot. He scored, 1-0 for the Spanish side. The intensity went one notch higher... La Roja ran faster, more menacing, created more chances. The uber industrious, David Silva, almost took the goal
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| Awesomeness. Robin van Persie's goal on-a-flight. I nominate this to be the Best Goal in World Cup 2014. (Photo credit: Reuters) |
Fireworks! The men in orange and their coaching staff celebrated with gusto, with a cute high-five between RVP and Louis van Gaal, while the Spanish side tensed visibly. Game changer? At that point, I thought it was just to make the match a little bit exciting. However, now that we know what we know, I was very wrong, of course! About a minute later, the referee blew his whistle... half-time. Silence... the tension was close to snapping.
A few minutes after the resumption of the match, Arjen Robben muscled his way through Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, right in front of Casillas. The slippery Dutch beat the trio and brought the tally to 1-2. There was a simultaneous leaping of orange shirts in the crowd... as the red ones fell on their seats with a thud. They had no idea what was about to happen. A throw-in from Wesley Sneijder, which was tapped in to the net by Stefan de Vrij brought the tally to 1-3. At that point, the usually supercool La Roja boss, Vicente del Bosque, was on his feet... for one thing, Casillas may have been fouled by RVP before the de Vrij goal. Casillas appealed to the referee passionately, and he was shown a yellow. Tough luck! The Spaniards started to look dejected... and scattered, with only Andres Iniesta showing unperturbed gut, trying his luck to cut their goal deficit - to no avail. And then RVP went at it again, beating Casillas, this time in a clinical finish, 1-4! Robben followed suit, tried his karate-style flying kick to score a brace - he connected, bringing the goal tally to an official rout of the current World Cup holders, 1-5!
Fernando Torres, who was shoved in to the pitch, last minute, had a quick opportunity to cut the Dutch lead, but as cold from the bench as he probably still was, he hesitated, and let the opportunity slip. Robben tried to bring his goal hoard to a hat-trick, but by that time, Casillas' pride and the Spanish long-distance prayer over their "San Iker", saved them from an official crash out of World Cup. Casillas kicked, punched, shoved... and it worked, a bit too late, but, hey... it's only the Group Stage. There is a reason to believe that staying alive is possible... except that Chile beat Australia, 3-1, putting Spain at the bottom of Group B.
Si, Del Bosque, siempre, will be spending sleepless noches. He needs to come up with a quick answer. The Spanish defense is a mess... no muscle, they lacked coordination, and without Carles Puyol, no leader to look up to. Iker committed many mistakes at crucial moments. Oh, boy, I didn't think the day would come when I'd actually say that about Iker Casillas. The midfield is not as precise, sharp and fast as back in 2010 in South Africa, and back in 2012 when they captured their second-in-a-row European Cup. Nope, I didn't think I'd ever have to say that, too, with Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta still active. Their front line, while filled with talented men, are not as fast and not as connected to the midfield as, say David Villa, back in 2010. Time for major revamp? Perhaps. More, importantly, I guess the Spanish men should put aside their colors at home, and concentrate on just being red... and things will fall in their right places.
Never say die, boys! Vamos, La Roja!
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