Though a world cup is a month long event, but initial matches are always important for every team coz this is the phase when psychological battles are decided, i.e., if you could win your first two games, especially against a tough opponent, your next journey is powered by unprecedented moral boost and this is what seems to be happening with Netherlands who impressively crushed defending champion Spain in the opener. It was like a firing attempt by the Louis van Gaal side and more importantly the role its key players played is just amazing. Remarkably, Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben scored two goals each while one goal was fired by Stefan de Vrij. For Spanish side, it was Xabi Alonso who scored the first goal of the match, but opponents proved to be too strong for them. The triumph is especially important coz Netherlands came from behind and almost lost the battle when Alonso beautifully found the net in the twenty seventh minute. Again, if we look at who has been dominating over the field, obviously it was Spain who kept the ball more than Oranje but could not match the strike rate shown by The Flying Dutchmen.
Persie called it ‘a dream come true’ and labeled his first goal of the game as his best until now in career. He said after the match, “This is incredible and inexplicable. For us, this is a dream come true and we have to enjoy it — everyone in Holland must, too. This is because of the coach. He has prepared us great and he predicted how the game would go. It’s incredible, because it was exactly as he and the staff predicted for us.”
Even manager praised his striker for an amazing show especially his first goal that stunned everybody watching the game. He described it as, “The pass from Daley Blind for Van Persie was fantastic, the finish was great. There was so much feeling. If you can make a goal in that way it’s great … really fantastic. It was great that (Persie) came to me. That is a sign of appreciation and that appreciation is mutual.”
Both manager and captain also pledged to concentrate on next games rather being on the cloud nine for always. It would now be interested to see how Spaniards manage to recover from this setback and show an improved show, especially defense, in the next games!