Yes, protesting too much.
This is kind of hard to watch now.
Holy fucking shit… what an absolutely shocking result! Was it perceived that the Spanish could have lost vs. the Dutch? Of course. But 5-1? Whoa…
Knorf – You tell me!!!
On top of this I think my whole bet in the office pool has gone out the window 
I think banned from the SDMB.
Holland really should’ve had 1 or 2 more.
Also I’m just not sure what Torres has brought to Spain for over 4 years.
Well done there, Fernando
Really brilliant second half from the Netherlands. Spectacular.
Now it’s time for underrated Australia to come out of nowhere and shock Chile! Who’s with me!!?!?!?!
Anyone? guys?
Now watch Chile rack up 3 or 4 against Australian to really put the heat on Spain.
Whilst I don’t think Australia are underrated - they’re just not very good, I think Chile may be a little overrated.
Netherlands brought the first commanding, truly persuasive game so far to this World Cup. Everyone noticed! This wasn’t 5-1 against Australia. It was against Spain. Stunning in every way.
Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
United fans should be really excited about the next couple of years.
This reminds me of Euro 2008 and Holland destroying France and Italy in short order.
Let’s hope there’s no 2014 equivalent of Guus Hiddink’s Russians in the next round to end the party…
To answer a previous question, in the US, ESPN has Alexi Lalas (US), Roberto Martinez (ESP), and Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED) in the studio.
Also of note for ESPN, at #49 in their rankings of the top 50 players at this year’s world cup is Iker Casillas. I won’t mention the other dozen or so Spanish players that made their top 50, but Casillas sucked big time today.
5-3-2, yet exciting as hell. And what about 30-year old Robben’s speed in the 80’? I know at that point there wasn’t a real opponent on the field anymore at that time, but that was fast
I remember when he was a 20 year-old playing for Chelsea - if he wasn’t the fastest player in the World, he was pretty close. Usually players like that lose a bit of pace and they become a little mediocre (looking at you Owen and Torres) because their game becomes predicated on their pace. Robben has that extra dimension which wasn’t necessarily evident so early on which means he doesn’t rely on his pace, but I doubt there are many 30 year olds who can run like that.
Finally! Entertaining football! I have no dog in this WC, but I haven’t been this excited since Norway brought down Brazil 2 - 1 in 98.
As a Bayern fan, having watched him all year, this performance by Robben didn’t surprise me a bit. He was a speedy magician for the club this season.
Spain’s defense, though, was shocking. Casillas had a pretty bad mistake in the UCL final and has followed that up with another howler, but it wasn’t all on him–Pique and Ramos were constantly caught out.
This. I place far more blame on Spain’s hapless (and Puyol-less), disorganized defense than on Casillas, who did make some great saves (admittedly, the best after it didn’t matter anymore).
I predicted this…I just forgot to tell anybody, but yeah, I totally had Holland 5-1. Yep…
Another factor is virtually all of the Dutch shots were on target…could’ve been much more than 5 if casillas had really choked (though obviously one goal was outright his fault).