By RYAN TOLMICH
While Thursday’s opener officially kicked off the tournament, Day 2 of the World Cup is when the fun truly begins. With a slate of three games on the docket, Friday’s lineup boasts the first full day of World Cup action.
The day’s action will start off with a Group A clash between Mexico and Cameroon in a matchup that will be key for a pair of teams jockeying for position behind yesterday’s winner, Brazil. Both teams limped through qualifying, but Friday’s contest gives both teams a chance to erase any memories of frustration by providing their supporters with three crucial points.
The second contest is the day’s headliner, as defending champion Spain takes on the Netherlands in a rematch of the 2010 final. Friday’s game is a first in the tournament’s long history, as prior to this contest, there had never been a Group Stage rematch between the last tournament’s finalists. While both sides will be gunning for early points, the 2010 tournament proved that it is possible to succeed after stumbling out of the gate, as Spain became the World Cup’s first team to win it all after losing its opening game.
The day’s action will conclude with the other two teams in Group B, Chile and Australia. The two sides will surely have their backs against the wall in their contests with Spain and the Netherlands, so Friday’s opener will be crucial if either team has hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
If you will be watching today’s matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (TV listings after the jump):
TODAY’S WORLD CUP SOCCER ON TV
11:30am – Mexico vs. Cameroon – ESPN2
2:30pm – Spain vs. Netherlands – ESPN
5:30pm – Chile vs. Australia – ESPN2
Seriously all the has beens on Spain’s team like Torres and Casillas what was the coach drinking when he pick his roster??
Casillas deserves responsibility, but that midfield for Spain is getting thrashed, and the backline
yeah, without midfield sharpness their weaknesses at defense are on display. Such a one-dimensional team. We’ll see if they can respond.
Netherland 5 Spain 1
Arjen Robben is number 1!
poor Casillas.
but wow two GREAT saves from him there.
Those were good but too little too late. Robben’s shot was amazing.
agreed.
Dang it, Holland.
Erdivisie defenders are such noobs right? Van Gaal played this perfectly and his team decided to cooperate.
yeah man, just TERRIBLE. anybody could score on them.
Its ugly when star athletes crash…
what is up with these slow mo shots? they were terrible 4 years ago and no better today…
5-1? I think MLS All Stars could do better than Spain
Carles puyol seemingly important.
Very true.
Isn’t it Carlos though? Or do I also have it wrong?
Carles
NED is playing FIFA on semi-pro.
Seriously wtf is this? bad defense and a terrible keeper. How did Madrid survive this season with these 2 guys????
Well Barca weren’t all that this season and Casillas spent a lot of time on the bench. So some saw this coming but probably not at this scoreline!
Woah.
wow what a match
God damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just tooling & burning La Furia Roja.
So down 3 goals… and… Ramos takes the free kick?
I had the same thought, but in all fairness it wasn’t a bad free kick
Haha
I called it!
I was rooting for Spain but I knew the Orange (or should I say the Blue) were too strong and Spain was too weak.
What a game!!
wow, Casillas…he really needs to be replaced.
Not only is Spain probably going to lose, but it looks like they’re going to be in trouble with goal differential
Its harder to play for those 1 – 0 victo… and Robben scores.
5 now…wow
I am hoping Chile can somehow manage 1st in the group – they should make a hard push for goals against Australia. I don’t really care for the Dutch or Spain this World Cup.
Chile basically had home field advantage that’s like Mexico playing in Texas Spain is in trouble
More like Spain playing in Austria, i.e., less travel, no sympathy: just ask a Chilean.
poor Casillas. as a Madrid fan i don’t like this one bit.
Seriously!!!!! de Gea is a way better option
Light years better!! I think the coach is playing his favorites now not the best guy
Agree JayAre, Casillas is not a big keeper and he’s lost a step.
Cat quick reflexes just not there anymore, and being on the smaller side
his ability is diminished.
Noticing the subtleties of the underhanded officiating?,
that was obstruction for Jozy, and Olic, but not on RVP.
& Van Persie was off, but got the shot which would have been a goal if he didn’t rock the post.
That said Clockwork Orange deserve this victory.
Between the wrongly disallowed goals in the first match today, the non sending off of Costa, the non-call on Casillas compared to the call on Cesar, this has not been a good start to the officiating.
I think the penalty decision for Costa was soft but think it was a much more valid call then the dive yesterday.
De Gea is seriously a better option!!!
wow, what a blunder!
OOOhhhh… Good offiside call. I want to count Spain out of it… but soooooo much time left. Hoping for a classic final 20.
Aaand… No. RVP with #4.
This is so awesome. So glad to see Spain getting their butts kicked.
How does Torres come off the bench and Villa is still sitting?
Cuz MLS made him washed out, yo.
So what did Iker get the yellow for?
72′: WTF was that?
To make it easier to explain why he’s on the bench the next two games, for people who didn’t see the game.
just as Sneijder approached that free kick I thought back to that goal vs Brazil in 2010…. almost the same
The Dutch are making this game interesting. Best game so far!!
so that’s not a foul on Casillas but Croatia’s challenge on Julio was?! SO INCONSISTENT.
Seriously. A lot more contact on that one.
Yeah, it’s almost as if the two games had different referees!
Whoa…could Spain not get out this group?
Could Spain not make it out of the group now? If they don’t beat Chile they’re in trouble..
hahahahhahahah spain is so overrated
Holland is winning via having amazing attacking talent. That’s it. Counting the heck out of Spain.
and playing through the air in the area…that’s the big weakness of Spain imo
You sure thats it?
Okay, spain just suck.
Countering*
But apparently also set pieces.
these Eredivisie defenders are sooooo bad….
Talentless hacks
I really think Spain should be starting De Gea not Iker.
You cannot convince me that RVP’s job on that set piece was to interfere with the GK’s movement.
He did his job well.
*was not to interfere..
Even more so after getting caught in no-man’s land on that third goal.
The fourth was even worse than the third.
there appears to be no denying that now. Iker will be on the bench the rest of the World Cup imo
Has anyone noticed the deployment of Schneider to disrupt the pivots of Busquets and Xavi Alonso, combined with the guys behind him have neutralized the possession bread and butter of Spain’s midfield….
(Channeling my inner Michael Bradley)
yes! good call
Is it really that hard to not be so soft? Making this sport look bad
Ok what’s wrong with Spain ? Singapore won’t like this!!
Robben seems to be compensating for the fact that everyone knows he’s gonig left, by shooting across his body and across the bodyof the goalie pre-emptively diving- saw him score like that with Bayern and now today
Costa is a POS.
and Costa is lucky…not much bt could have been sent off, no doubt
At 61′, NED looks bright.
the Dutch attacking that high line from Spain with direct balls over the top
2 goals now like that
Scary part is that probably only got by Casillas because of the deflection.
maybe! could be more goals in this one
and there it is…3-1
WOW!!!
that was awesome…what a first touch
f*ck spain
Hup Holland Hup!
If the Dutch can pull this one out, how crazy could the Spain – Chile game be? Chile’s odds of going through that much better?
Question: Thought there were supposed to be World Cup level refs? Spain has made a science out of drawing fouls by dumb refs and this guy hasn’t a clue. Either that or he is betting. Nah! The Italian refs would never do that………..