It Was a Tough Fight But Ultimately The Favorite Stood Its Ground ; Netherlands 3-2 Australia

In one of the most entertaining games of the tournament, the Netherlands produced the seventh come-from-behind win of the World Cup so far, rallying for a 3-2 win over Australia, who had themselves come from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead early in the second half on Wednesday.

With the win, the Netherlands move for the Round of 16 prior to the final round of group games, meanwhile Australia leaves the cup having no mathematical chances and expecting to make a final show against Spain next Monday.

The New York Red Bulls' Tim Cahill scored one of the best goals of the tournament with a left-footed volley to tie the game early in the first half, but he also received his second yellow card of the tournament and will be suspended for Australia's final group game, against Spain. Dutch star Robin van Persie scored the second Dutch goal but also received his second yellow card of the World Cup and will miss the Netherlands' group finale against Chile.

The Netherlands looked brilliant against Spain in their first match, but Wednesday was a different story. They were sloppy in possession and inaccurate in their passing for most of the game, leaving Australia at liberty to dictate possession and tempo, before the Dutch turned it on late. Whether it was because they didn’t expect the Socceroos to put up a fight or because they were still thinking about their rout of Spain, the Oranje looked out of sorts.

Cahill knows how to score goals – he had 11 in MLS last season – but sweet merciful God, Captain Australia’s 21st-minute strike was an absolute thunderbolt. After you pick your jaw up off the floor, the only question left to ask is whether Cahill’s strike unseats van Persie’s first against Spain as “Goal of the Tournament.”

Both Australia and the Netherlands suffered casualties on Wednesday. Cahill and van Persie will miss their teams’ next matches due to yellow-card accumulation, and the Netherlands will likely be without center back Bruno Martins Indi, who had to come off the field at the end of the first half on a stretcher.

Memphis Depay, Netherlands -- In just 45 minutes after replacing Martins Indi (Louis van Gaal switched the Netherlands from a 5-3-2 to a 4-3-3 with the sub), Depay assisted on the Oranje’s equalizer and scored the winning goal, even if Mathew Ryan should have done better on Depay’s long-range strike.

Chile 2-0 Spain After Two Defeats The King Has Lost Its Throne

The world champions are out. History. Kaput. Spain are gone. Tied first in departing this tournament, with Australia. Not in body, because there is still the matter of a meaningless final group game in Curitiba on Monday, but mathematically and in spirit. They trooped off the pitch in the Maracana Stadium last night, heads bowed, all resistance spent. After two games they have no points and a goal difference that reads 1-7. This truly is a seismic development for football.

It is the worst defence of a World Cup title in history, poorer even than Italy in South Africa four years ago. They, too, exited at the group stage, but at least their final game was live. Spain now travel Brazil a redundant embarrassment. Nobody wants to be one of those teams, the dead rubberers, fulfilling a fixture list simply because they must.

This will be the game that many say marks the end of the era of tiki-taka, too, but with that is raised a more existential question. Was there ever any such thing? Did tiki-taka create a great Spanish team, or was it merely itself the invention of 11 outstanding players.

And one in particular: Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona. We think systems make players, but perhaps it is the other way around. Holland have played great football since the era of Johann Cruyff, but has it ever again been total football?

And Spain will no doubt come again – but will it be with tiki-taka, or some new philosophy that simply suits their XI at the time. Diego Costa is most certainly not a disciple of tiki-taka. He is an old-fashioned target man, of the type that every English club once had.

Xavi, meanwhile, was dropped for this game, having been partly responsible for the 5-1 defeat by Holland last week. In his absence, others tried to recreate Spain’s style, but without success. Xabi Alonso had a terrible time and was substituted after 45 minutes. They tried to tiki, they tried to taka, but without Xavi at his peak it just wasn’t the same.

Chile were, by contrast, magnificent. It would be wrong to say they played without a philosophy, because they were superbly organised, pressed high and upset Spain’s rhythm beautifully.

Yet there is no catchy name for what Chile do, no books that are written on its rise, no credit given for changing modern football as Spain have done with their three straight tournament wins.

Jorge Sampaoli, an Argentinian, has simply got his team playing excellent, technical, hard-working football of the type that wins big matches, and maybe tournaments, too – unless the big guns of South America buck their ideas up here. Chile looked better than Argentina did at the Maracana on Sunday, and were an upgrade on either of Brazil’s two performances so far. They took their chances, defended manfully, ran to the point of exhaustion and showed great courage after half-time when Brazil threw the kitchen sink at them. It wasn’t always comfortable, but it certainly wasn’t fortunate. What happens now in the final game against Holland may depend on how keen either team is to avoid Brazil, who it is presumed will win Group A. If both teams go for the top spot in Group B on that presumption, it could be one of the matches of the tournament.

Fittingly, the Maracana is where this World Cup has found its truest, noisiest expression. Why Brazil have avoided coming here until the final, therefore, is a mystery. In their absence, the rest of the continent has taken residence – Chile raising the decibel level above even the crescendo of Argentina on Sunday. And that was before they took a two goal half-time lead against the world champions.

Spain had too much to lose, while Chile played like a team that could only be heroes. The exclusion of Xavi and defender Gerard Pique – but, fatefully, not goalkeeper Iker Casillas – spoke of the trauma suffered in the five goal defeat to Holland. Chile’s players, by contrast, spent the previous night socialising with friends and family at their beachfront hotel in Barra. It showed. In the second minute Gonzalo Jara headed an Alexis Sanchez corner just wide to roars of approval and the pattern was set. Chile were not in the least intimidated by this occasion. There were here to destroy some serious reputations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2014/article-2661724/Spain-0-2-Chile-World-champions-dumped-2014-World-Cup-sloppy-Iker-Casillas-display.html

Brazil Had Many Chances Against Mexico But Did Not Prove Worthy as Candidate To Raise The Cup

Needing a tie against Brazil to nose ahead of Croatia in the race for second in Group A, Mexico duly got one, holding the Selecao to a 0-0 draw in Fortaleza. This was hardly a repeat of the tournament's other 0-0 scoreline, however — it was a thrilling ride that saw both teams create (and waste) great chances to go ahead.

How did El Tri manage to hold the favourites scoreless? It had a lot to do with the outstanding performance of 'Memo' Guillermo Ochoa in goal, but perhaps more to do with the Selecao's flaws, which are becoming more obvious by the game.

Brazil (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar; Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo; Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho; Oscar, Neymar, Ramires; Fred.

Mexico (3-5-2): 'Memo' Guillermo Ochoa; 'Maza' Francisco Rodriguez, Rafael Marquez, Hector Moreno; Paul Aguilar, Hector Herrera, Jose Vazquez, Andres Guardado, Miguel Layun; Giovani dos Santos, Oribe Peralta.

We've seen 3-5-2 versus 4-2-3-1 already in this tournament, and just like in the first half of Argentina's win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, the latter shape dominated play in the centre of the pitch but failed to find the net. That's probably where the similarities end, however. Alejandro Sabella's Argentina were looking to roll their opponents over, while here, Mexico's 3-5-2 was hoping to draw Brazil's fullbacks forward and hit them on the counterattack.

Ramires receiving a yellow card against Mexico, Photo credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

With Hulk injured, Luiz Felipe Scolari had a selection dilemma on the right wing. He chose Chelsea midfielder Ramires for the role, overlooking the likes of Bernard and Willian — the latter is particularly amusing because Willian is a regular starter ahead of Ramires at club level — and that decision backfired rather spectacularly, with Ramires contributing little but a yellow card before being hauled off at halftime.

Oscar was fielded on the left wing but constantly drifted inside to help keep possession in midfield, resolving one major issue from the Croatia game, but at the same time Oscar's movement left Brazil without a genuine threat on the left barring Marcelo's runs up the pitch — it was a sacrifice of control in the centre for attacking penetration. Against Croatia, Oscar attempted seven crosses as a right winger, but here he only tried three.

Brazil dominated possession, and despite Mexico coming close a number of times with speculative long-range efforts, it was clear which side was on top of the match: the hosts created the bulk of the real scoring chances, and Mexico (perhaps surprisingly, considering 

Dani Alves' aggressive positioning) weren't able to work any of the flank overloads that had served them so well against Cameroon. El Tri's first and only shot from inside the penalty area came in the 78th minute, by which point Memo Ochoa had made half a dozen saves.