Reign of Spain ended by Chile

Chile’s goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (center) clears a shot from the mouth of the goal during a 2-0 victory over Spain in a Group B match Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.
Chile’s goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (center) clears a shot from the mouth of the goal during a 2-0 victory over Spain in a Group B match Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The king is dead. The World Cup will have a new champion.

Just like France in 2002 and Italy in 2010, defending champion Spain is going home after losing 2-0 to Chile on Wednesday.

But the Netherlands, the other winner on Wednesday, defeating Australia 3-2, look like an increasingly good prospect to take the throne Spain vacated.

Croatia beat Cameroon 4-0 in the late game Wednesday.

Chile delivered the mortal blow to an uninterrupted 6-year era of dominance for Spain, the European and world champions whose dazzling footballers ran out of puff in Brazil. They were made to look vulnerable last week in losing 5-1 to the Netherlands and then simply plain ordinary by a physical and quick Chilean side.

Fevered Chilean supporters rocked the Maracana Stadium with chants of "Chile, we love you!" They will be able to recount how they saw their team put two goals without reply past one of the greatest teams global football has ever seen.

Demolishing Spain showed the Dutch can be spectacular. Toughing out a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against Australia showed them to also be resilient and cool under pressure -- vital qualities for the knockout rounds that start June 28.

With no points from its first two games, Spain will play for pride when it meets Australia -- also winless in its first two games -- in their last match Group B match Monday.

Then it will be a return home to the inevitable postmortem of how a team that played like clockwork in defending its European title two years ago could fall so far, so quickly.

In Brazil, the advancing age of key players, grievous mistakes from captain Iker Casillas and others, and Coach Vicente del Bosque's failure to read the writing on the wall fatally threw the Spanish machine out of gear.

But Spain's demise was also a reminder of how fiendishly difficult it is to retain the World Cup and for coaches to keep teams fresh and motivated in the four-year gap between tournaments.

Only Italy -- winners in 1934 and 1938 -- and Brazil --champions in 1958 and 1962 -- have won back-to-back World Cups.

Del Bosque came to Brazil with a goalkeeper, Casillas, who is no longer undisputed No. 1 at his club, Real Madrid, with a midfield playmaker, Xavi Hernandez, who at 34 is passed his peak, and with a new striker, Diego Costa, who has been a major disappointment, not finding the net once.

Costa's presence was meant to introduce a muscular new threat up front for a team that often played without a recognized center-forward in winning Euro 2012. But instead, Spain looked unbalanced in Brazil. Not once has it scored in open play. Spain's only goal against the Netherlands was a penalty that Xabi Alonso put away.

Alonso was awful against Chile. Del Bosque took him off after the first half. Together, Alonso and Xavi -- benched and unused Wednesday after an ineffectual game against the Netherlands -- as well as Casillas and defender Sergio Ramos have played a total of more than 500 games for Spain.

Australia, the World Cup's lowest-ranked team, proved a far tougher opponent for the Netherlands than the Spanish were last week.

Arjen Robben opened the scoring for the Netherlands before Tim Cahill brought the sides level a minute later with a stunning volley that was one of the best goals from the tournament so far.

Mile Jedinak then converted a 54th minute penalty and Robin van Persie equalized for the Netherlands with his third goal of the tournament.

A goalkeeping blunder by Maty Ryan handed substitute Memphis Depay his first international goal and the Netherlands the winner.

GROUP B

THE NETHERLANDS 3, AUSTRALIA 2

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- The Netherlands had to work much harder for a victory over the World Cup's lowest-ranked team than it did against the defending world and European champion.

A goalkeeping blunder by Maty Ryan handed substitute Memphis Depay his first international goal and the Netherlands the victory Wednesday after a spirited Australia had brought the Dutch back down to earth with a bump following their 5-1 thrashing of Spain in their Group B opener.

"In a tournament you can't play every game fantastically from beginning to end," striker Robin van Persie said.

Arjen Robben opened the scoring with a break-away goal before Tim Cahill's stunning volley brought the sides level just a minute later. Mile Jedinak then converted a 54th minute penalty and Van Persie equalized with his third goal of the tournament four minutes after that.

Depay's speculative long-range shot beat Ryan in the 68th to give the Dutch a 3-2 victory.

It was a tactical change by Coach Louis van Gaal that may have helped turn the game for the Dutch, who gave away the ball too often in the first half under pressure from Australia.

After starting with the same 5-3-2 formation that tore apart Spain, Van Gaal switched to the traditional Dutch system of 4-3-3 at half time -- a change forced on him in part by an injury to Bruno Martins Indi and in part to switch the way his players were approaching the match.

"That is the natural system that every Dutch boy grows up with," Van Gaal said. "We can always switch to that system. In the second half it went much better."

Regardless of which system his team was playing, Van Gaal said he was pleased with its productivity.

"We've scored eight goals and conceded three in two matches," Van Gaal said. "That fits into the 'Holland school' of attacking football."

The coach was helped again by his star strikers.

Van Persie's second-half goal was not as spectacular as his header against Spain, but he was again in the right place to slot home a chance. Robben again showed that at 30 he's still one of the fastest attackers in football, sprinting half the length of the pitch and driving in a low shot to open the scoring.

"It is fantastic to have strikers like Robben and Van Persie," Van Gaal said. "They've both scored three times and we've only been playing two matches ... and the way they score is also unbelievably good and attractive for the fans."

The Netherlands will face Chile in its final Group B match without all-time top scorer Van Persie, who was given his second yellow card of the tournament early in the second half, meaning he is automatically suspended for the next match.

Van Gaal also will have to wait to see if Martins Indi is fit after the central defender was carried off late in the first half following a late challenge by Cahill and sent to a hospital to undergo tests for a possible concussion.

Australia Coach Ange Postecoglou paid tribute to the way his team fought, and predicted the Dutch could go a long way in the tournament.

"They're going to be a handful -- particularly if you look at the front three," he said. "Arjen Robben, Van Persie, Sneijder, they're good enough to unlock any defense."

GROUP A

CROATIA 4, CAMEROON 0

MANAUS, Brazil -- Mario Mandzukic scored two goals Wednesday to keep Croatia in the mix at the World Cup with a victory over 10-man Cameroon, which cannot now advance from the group stage.

Mandzukic, who returned to the team at the Arena da Amazonia after sitting out the opening loss to Brazil through suspension, headed in a corner from Danijel Pranjic in the 61st minute and then knocked in a rebound in the 73rd of the Group A game.

Ivan Perisic also scored one goal and made another for Ivica Olic.

Cameroon was reduced to 10 men after midfielder Alex Song was given a red card for elbowing Mandzukic in the back in an off-the-ball incident in the 40th minute.

The team started without the injured Samuel Eto'o, the team's best player.

Sports on 06/19/2014

Upcoming Events