An unstoppable Chile defeated Spain by a score of 2-0 to crush La Roja’s chances of retaining the World Cup Champions title at the Maracana Stadium.
The Chilean squad had their goals scored by Eduardo Vargas on the 26th minute and Charles Aranguiz on the 43th to determine the final score.
After a poor opening match against the Netherlands, Spain were looking to make a comeback and finish the match with the three points, to continue with their World Cup title hopes.
Chile on the other hand had a comfortable result on their first match beating Australia 3-1 and started the game with the possibility to knockout Spain and Australia from the World Cup and qualify for the round of 16.
The Chileans received massive support from their fans at the Maracana Stadium, and right in the first minute of play Chile would have the first scoring opportunity but Andres Iniesta sent the ball out for a corner, which was poorly used and finished as a goal-kick for Spain.
Spain were feeling the pressure and struggling to connect the passes, the tiki taka was once again looking ineffective and the first chance to score for Spain would come from a long range free kick in the 17th minute when Xabi Alonso would get a lucky rebound for an opportunity to score but goalkeeper Claudio Bravo managed to get a hand on the ball and to stop the first goal of the match.
The first goal came from the boots of Eduardo Vargas in the 19th minute of play, after a great counterattack display showed that started with Alexis Sanchez. The passing combination gave Vargas the opportunity to have a 1 on 1 chance with Iker Casillas, the Chilean faked a a kick to his right which allowed him a clear shot at goal that he wouldn’t waste, giving Chile the 1-0 lead.
The first half was a display of a very uncharacteristic aggressive game from Spain, which left Xabi Alonso a yellow card on the 40 minute, which lead to a free kick in the edge of the Spanish box.
Alexis Sanchez kicked the ball on target, Casillas had to make a diving save but the rebound would finish with Charles Aranguiz who to enjoyed the second open sight of goal and he would also capitalise, making it a 2-0 lead over the World Champions for Chile in the 43rd minute.
The beginning of the second half gave Spain the first scoring chance of the half when Diego Costa was allowed inside the Chilean box for a 1 on 1 chance with the goalkeeper but Gary Medel put the ball out for a corner kick.
Only two minutes later Sergio Busquets would miss a close range open goal chance once again for Spain.
After Fernando Torres substitution for Diego Costa on the 64 minute, Spain controlled the ball for most of the game but the Chilean defence didn’t allow the Spanish to go near their net.
There were no clear scoring chances for neither team to this point until a long range kick from Iniesta, that goalkeeper Bravo would send out for a corner after a beautiful diving save in the 84th minute.
And another save in the 88th minute from Santi Cazorla’s free kick made Chile the first South American team qualified to the next round of World Cup 2014 and Spain becomes the first defending Champion ever to lose their two opening matches.
A second half defined by Spain’s passing and Chile’s defence, where an inability to score saw the current Champions eliminated from the competition.
For some it is sad to say that one of the most beautiful display of football has probably come to an end, and shows us that football must keep moving forward to define a new World Champion.
