A Flood Of Rain and A Flood Of Goals

Though today's line up of games is not technically over (Chile vs. Australia will be kicking off soon) it is safe to say that most people will not be paying attention to that game... at all. Before I tackle the biggest news item I wanted to briefly (emphasize briefly) talk about the Cameroon vs Mexico game. The game was not pretty. The stadium looked like it was going to become the next Noah's arc and the Cameroon jerseys were skin tight. I mean they were like a second skin! Again it seems that referee's calls are going to have a huge impact on the World Cup, like they always do. But I am happy that Mexico were able to get at least one goal that could be allowed. However, I still do think that Croatia and Brazil will be coming out of the group.

Now on to the big news... Spain's 5-1 defeat to the Dutch. At first I was a little torn up about this defeat. If you didn't know I am Spain fan but I have to give credit where credit is due. Van Gaal, at first, seemed to be a little crazy in implementing this back three and in the first half it seemed to be vulnerable at times. The formation however favors their counter-attacking prowess. Arjen Robben is a magician with his left foot and even if were to loose his right leg I think it would make no deference. I was not surprised that Van Persie was able to come up with two great goals. Having watched him in the Premiere League I know that he is a great finisher and a major nuisance to opposing sides goalies (Come one Casillas!). Though most talk about the following two along with Schnedier being the best part of the Dutch team, I thought that their third best player today was Daley Blind.

Before the game I actually stumbled upon Blind on Instagram. I thought he was adorable so I subsequently stalked him on the internet. His cross to set up Van Persie's amazing header was superb and I thought the pressure he put in Spain's midfield during the second half contributed to the Dutch's domination.

Clearly you can understand his attractiveness in this photo
but even with his shirt on he is cute! 

Now on to Spain. What can I say. I along with the rest of the world had high expectations for the defending champions. But simply put they sucked. We are used to seeing a possession heavy Spanish national team with them often finding it difficult to create that final goal. The introduction of Diego Costa was intended to solve this problem with him being the intended target for Spain's talented midfield. Besides winning an arguable penalty and head butting a player Costa was lackluster. It seems that his pissing off the entire Brazilian nation by being a "turncoat" (their words not mine) was to no avail. I don't think he'll be going back to his home anytime soon. Spain's biggest problem was their defense.

Spain's defense is always suspect. They try to play a high line to catch people off sides but this time it did not work. Spain's defense was slow and poorly organized. They completely lost sight of the ball and were beaten by the quickness of Robben and Van Persie. What killed the Spanish and the main reason for two of the Dutch goals were the mistakes of Iker Casillas. Am I surprised? Not really. Casillas has had a pretty bad year and a half. He has not played goalie for his club team Real Madrid regularly since having returned from a hand injury. He made a crucial error in last month's Champions League final and was the reason why I was flipping out for 120 minutes! This dip in form was evident today. He got caught out of goal and made some horrible decisions that further added salt to his side's wounds.

I think it is too soon to completely count out the Spanish. It will be important to see how they recover against the speediness and almost craziness of Chile next week. Most importantly the team needs to stop looking so defeated. The last 15 minutes of this game was painful to watch. Spain completely lost their shape and discipline. Iker Casillas can not be the starting goalie. I honestly think they should maybe put in De Gea who could practically be Casillas' son. They must touch on all the youth they have on the bench. Xavi is ancient and Torres should retire already (I can't stand him!). Koke and David Villa had great seasons with Atletico and should be started! Maybe, Del Bosque will google translate my blog and follow my great advice.

At least Spain has won according to Buzzfeed... for hotness. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/reasons-the-spanish-world-cup-team-is-definitively-the-ho