2014 FIFA World Cup Group B

Group B of the 2014 FIFA World Cup consisted of Spain, the Netherlands, Chile, and Australia. This group contained the finalists of the previous World Cup in 2010: Spain (reigning champion) and the Netherlands (runners-up). Play began on 13 June and ended on 23 June 2014. The Netherlands and Chile progressed to the knockout stage, while Australia and Spain were eliminated after suffering two defeats in their opening two matches. Chile was eliminated by Brazil in the second round after penalties, while the Netherlands made their way to the semi-finals in which they lost to Argentina on penalties. The third place match was won by the Netherlands with a convincing 3–0 victory against Brazil.

The two teams had met in 9 previous matches, including in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, won by Spain 1–0 after extra time. This was the first time in the FIFA World Cup that the previous finalists met in the group stage.

Halfway into the first half, the referee judged that Diego Costa caught a trailing leg from Stefan de Vrij's attempted tackle. Xabi Alonso scored the penalty kick for Spain, shooting into the bottom-right corner with his right foot, putting them into the lead. They were unable to keep the lead until half time though, with Robin van Persie scoring a 15-yard diving looping header after a long ball from Daley Blind from the left after he spotted Iker Casillas slightly off his line. In the second half, Blind assisted another goal for Netherlands, this time setting up Arjen Robben who controlled the pass before coming inside to finish with his left foot from ten yards out. Twelve minutes later, Netherlands scored again, as De Vrij headed the ball in from a tight angle from a Wesley Sneijder free kick on the left. Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas protested that he had been fouled by Van Persie, but the goal was allowed to stand and Casillas received a yellow card for his protest. Not long after this, a backpass from Sergio Ramos was miscontrolled by Casillas with his left leg, resulting in Van Persie gathering the ball and scoring into an empty net for his second goal of the game. The fifth goal for Netherlands was a solo effort from Robben. Having received the ball near the halfway line from a Wesley Sneijder pass, he outran Ramos, Jordi Alba and Casillas, before slotting the ball into the net from 10 yards out with his left foot.

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