Chile continues to impress at World Cup 2014 by defeating defending champion Spain 2-0, which shockingly eliminates the Spanish from the competition. Entering the tournament not only as the defending World Cup champion, but also the two-time defending European Champion, Spain was expected to be a serious contender for the title. Instead, after getting outscored 7-1 in its first two matches, Spain's last match against Australia will be for pride only.
The action could not wait until the match started, as approximately 100 Chilean fans without tickets stormed through a security area at the stadium that was manned by only one guard. The shocking lapse in security turned scary for members of the media as the fans entered the media area, knocking down barriers and everything else in their path. Thankfully the hooligans were eventually rounded up and arrested, this incident at the stadium that will be hosting the World Cup Final should be a cause of concern.
Back on the pitch, following a vigorous singing of the Chilean anthem (it sounded like the match was taking place in Santiago instead of Rio), the Chileans came out attacking in an unusual 3-4-1-2 formation and nearly scored twice within the first two minutes. Their aggressiveness came to fruition in the 20th minute when Eduardo Vargas opened the scoring, after receiving the ball, juking past beleaguered Spanish keeper Iker Casillas and slotting it home.
Vargas celebrates after putting Chile up 1-0 over Spain. (Photo: @cbcsports | Twitter}
The goal seemed to further erode Spanish confidence, as in the minutes that followed the Spanish lacked their usual crispness in their passes and were slow moving the ball around. Chile took the match to the shell-shocked Spaniards, pressing and harassing them every time they had the ball to prevent the establishment of the usual Spanish rhythm. The Spaniards were also frequently yelling and pointing fingers at each other, lacking the normal unity that we have seen in tournaments past.
The Chileans doubled their advantage in the 43rd minute following a free kick from Sanchez that Casillas bizarrely parried right into the path of Charles Aranguiz, who sent it right back and past Casillas. It was yet another questionable decision by Casillas in this tournament, who (if he was not going to try and catch the ball off the set piece) should have at least forced it towards the corner flag. When blame gets assigned at the end of this tournament for Spain's performance, Casillas's name will be near the top of the list.
Iker Casilla's was not the world class keeper that we know from past tournaments (Photo: @XHNews | Twitter]
The Spanish never really mounted much a serious threat in the second half, though Sergio Busquets did botch a tremendous scoring chance in the 53rd minute that might have turned the tide in the match. Star striker Diego Costa, who attracted so much attention when he chose to play for Spain over Brazil, was substituted for Fernando Torres after about an hour for the second consecutive match after proving a relative non-factor. Costa looked lost for most of this match and his performance can't be inspiring too much confidence in Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ahead of Costa's seemingly sealed move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Diego Costa was not a factor in either game for Spain (Photo: @Squawka | Twitter)
American referee Mark Geiger (a former math teacher from New Jersey) was unable or unwilling to prevent the Chileans from throwing themselves down all over the pitch throughout the second half in a shameless display of time wasting (it drove ESPN commentator Steve McManaman crazy). Although completely ridiculous and disgraceful, given the propensity of some Spanish players to engage in similar antics for both club and country, it is hard to feel much sympathy for la Furia Roja here.
Spain's early crash out of the tournament is one of the stories of the World Cup so far. Given that under normal conditions, the Spanish press is in a frenzy over its national and club team performances, this disaster should be the equivalent of a piranhaconda sharktopus...in the middle of a sharknado.
Chile and the Netherlands have both already clinched a spot in the knockout round, but their seeding will be decided in their final match on Monday, June 23rd at 12:00 pm EST. The match will be important as the runner-up from this group likely will face host country Brazil in the round of 16, so both sides will be anxious to avoid that matchup.
