Robin van Persie silenced the critics who claimed Netherlands did not have enough fire power to defeat Spain. PHOTO: REUTERS
SALVADOR:
Robin van Persie scored one of the greatest World Cup goals ever and claimed the Netherlands could have smashed eight past defending champions Spain after his side’s superb 5-1 triumph in the early hours of Saturday.
“For the whole of the Netherlands, this is a dream come true,” said the 30-year-old striker.
“It was five, but it could have been six, seven or eight goals, in my opinion,” he added, barely able to believe the size of the win.
Van Persie said the victory against the team, who beat them in the 2010 final, was down to the preparation and self-belief instilled by coach Louis van Gaal, who will soon be at Van Persie’s club Manchester United.
Van Persie hailed his goal, a flamboyant diving header from almost the edge of the penalty box, as the best of his career.
“Considering the magnitude of the occasion, it was the biggest moment for me and a brilliant goal,” he said.
“But it was a gamble. I saw Iker Casillas standing out of his goal, so it was a lobbed header.”
He scored a similar goal against Charlton for previous club Arsenal in the English league, but said this was more special because it was against the world champions.
The Holland captain then urged his team to look forward and not to take the win for granted.
“We’ve beaten the best team in the world for the last six years and if you look at how much we wanted it and how well we played, it’s a massive compliment to the team,” said the Dutch man-of-the-match.
“We have to take it all in and enjoy it, but then focus on Australia. This was an incredible evening for the whole of Holland, but it’s only three points.”
Shocked Spanish camp speaks on ‘catastrophe’
After suffering their worst defeat in 51 years, the holders Spain were left confused and puzzled. Fingers were pointed towards every player but captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas received the majority of the criticism from fans and the media.
“I have to ask forgiveness for the match we played in general and me in particular,” said Casillas, who came within 40 minutes of Walter Zenga’s record of keeping a clean sheet 517 World Cup minutes in a row. “I was not good enough.”
Thousands of fans gathered in Madrid to watch the game on giant screens were left stunned into silence by the rout.
“We didn’t react well to Van Persie’s second goal — they were euphoric and they hammered us,” said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.
Spain’s veteran midfielder Xavi struggled to comprehend the mauling.
“We did everything wrong in the second half, it was a debacle,” he said.
The Spanish media were not too delighted with the results, calling it the most disastrous match in World Cup history.
“This is not just any old defeat. It is an historic disaster. There is no precedent of this scale in the history of the World Cup,” Marca wrote.
“Humiliation”, ran the single headline on the front page of general daily El Mundo.
“We can expect this as a wake-up call for Spain, who will be looking to gather their strengths and qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.
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