Reigning champions Spain crumbled in their World Cup opener in Salvador on Friday evening as they were comfortably brushed aside by the Netherlands who secured a 5-1 victory.
It was La Roja who got things going just before the half hour mark through a Xabi Alonso penalty. Robin van Persie equalised in spectacular fashion before the break and went on to add his second later in the game along with two goals from Arjen Robben and another from Stefan de Vrij. 
The repeat of the 2010 final started off in slow fashion and it was, perhaps surprisingly, the Dutch who had the first real clear-cut chance. Wesley Sneijder found himself beyond the Spanish defence and closing in on Iker Casillas’ goal only to hit his shot straight at the onrushing goalkeeper.
The man at the centre of attention for many, Diego Costa, managed to cause problems in the early stages without ever really looking like scoring. The Brazilian-born Spanish front man was greeted by a roar of boos every time the ball made its way to him, as was widely anticipated beforehand. He did manage to work his way into good positions on more than one occasion but never looked like threatening Jasper Cillessen in the Dutch goal as he very much looked to be still finding his feet in this Spanish side.
On 25 minutes the game had its first major talking point and subsequently its opening goal. Costa was once again involved as Spain attacked and was brought down in the box to earn a penalty for La Roja. Xabi Alonso stepped up and slotted the penalty into the bottom corner to put the world champions into the driving seat.
As half-time approached Andres Iniesta decided to give us a glimpse of why he is rightly considered to be one of the greatest players of his generation. The Barcelona man threaded a reverse ball through the eye of a needle to David Silva who attempted to chip Cillessen but it was denied with ease by the Dutch ‘keeper.
There was enough time between Silva’s chance and the break for Robin van Persie to show his class as he drew the Netherlands level. A long, diagonal ball from Daley Blind found itself falling between the Spanish back line and their goal. The Manchester United striker looked like he wouldn’t quite reach it until he presented us with his best impression of a salmon jumping out of water to incredibly head the ball over the hopeless Casillas and into the net.
It was the Oranje who began the second half on top, and it didn’t take long before they took the lead. Arjen Robben beautifully plucked the ball out of the air and his shot deflected up past Casillas and into the net.
Van Gaal’s men came a matter of inches away from taking a two goal lead on the hour mark. Van Persie was in space on the right and may have been called back for offside but was allowed to continue and he unleashed an aggressive half-volley at goal which rattled the crossbar.
It wasn’t long before del Bosque’s men did find themselves two goals behind. An in-swinging Sneijder free kick was missed by Casillas, who claimed to have been fouled by van Persie who jumped with him, and allowed Stefan de Vrij to head into an open goal from no more than two yards out before crashing into the post as he came back to ground.
The reigning champions looked to respond immediately and momentarily thought they had pulled a goal back through David Silva. As the ball came into the box, a good downward header from Pedro could only be parried away into the Manchester City man’s path and he tapped in from a yard out only to see his goal ruled out by the assistant referee’s flag.
Casillas had a massive helping hand once again in the next goal. What looked to be a simple pass to deal with, turned into a heavy touch which allowed van Persie to dispossess the Spanish first choice goalkeeper and slide in to tap the ball into an empty goal to amazingly make it 4-1.
There was no sign of the Netherlands letting up as Van Persie was withdrawn and he handed the captain’s armband to Robben. This seemed to drive the Bayern Munich man on as within two minutes he added more weight to Spain’s misery. Breaking clear of the defence he sent Casillas to ground and took his time before smashing the ball into the roof of the net.
There were still ten minutes for Del Bosque and Spain to suffer through and the score could have been made even worse only for the Oranje to pass up on more than one opportunity and there were to be no more goals.
Follow Conor Clancy on Twitter: @concalcio
