Day 2

The Netherlands demolished Spain 5-1.  Van Persie's headed swan-dive goal is the goal of the tournament so far.   I have long been a fan of Spain but predicted this tournament would be the end of their run (although I tapped England to do the honors).  Spain are still alive, of course, and could very well beat both Chile and Australia and advance.  But, like last year's 3-0 defeat to Brazil, this game showed Spain's expanding vulnerabilities.  They are slower, more easily fatigued, and considerably worse on defense and in goal.  The classy Casillas was awful, which is not a complete surprise, given his deteriorating club performance over the last two seasons, but still: yikes.

Chile 3, Australia 1.  Chile is a joy to watch, and at first it looked like they might beat Australia 10-0.  But after furious 20 minutes, the game settled, and Australia found its way back into the match.   At no time was the game conservative or closed; bell-to-bell it was an extremely open match and was really fun to watch.  I don't see Chile going far in the tournament because I don't see how they will defeat strong counterattacking sides (like Brazil, who Chile rates to meet in the round of 16).  But I hope they go far, because every minute of Chile contests are exciting.   I also hope Arturo Vidal recovers fully, because he was clearly still injured in this game, and he's a super-exciting player. 

FF