Four years later, at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, we witnessed a Dutch Reconquista. It was a sight of corrida de toros (Spanish bullfighting), where Dutch bulls ran, veered and jostled past Spanish matadors, reducing their morale to dust by netting a cascade of goals.
It was one of the most unforeseen results in FIFA World Cup history. On each of the previous occasions, where a team, that is defending champion, lost the first match in the succeeding World Cup, it didn’t lose by more than a margin of one goal. Last night, however, it was a cosmic rout, signifying the end of an order, even the death of Spanish football as it is currently played. Spain conceded over four times for the first time since 1963.
It was not a typical start for the Spanish team in first few minutes of the game; lacking the usual, silken and dominant football they play. However, the current European and World Champions took a 27th-minute lead through a controversial penalty given to them by Xabi Alonso, after Brazilian-born striker Diego Costa went down under a challenge from Stefan de Vrij. It was near the end of the first half though that the Spanish team started coming into its element.
We were all prepared to witness a 2010 finale repeat.
But during the first half, at the 44th minute, a bird, an aeroplane or Superman, say whatever you like, emerged in form of an airborne Robin van Persie. Daley Blind played a long ball over the top of the Spanish defenders and Van Perise launched like a human projectile heading straight towards the goal. Netherlands left the field at the break, embracing each other with wide smiles and they carried that momentum into the second half.
The second half was perhaps one of the most startling routs of any top-ranked national team in World Cup history. The Dutch poured forward and went ahead after 53 minutes, when Arjen Robben got on the end of another superb blind-lobbed pass before turning Gerard Pique and holding off Sergio Ramos to fire home from seven meters.
The match opened up, but in the Netherlands’ favour with De Vrij stealing in on 64-minutes at the back post to convert a free kick after Van Persie put Iker Casillas under pressure. It didn’t end there though – in fact it only became worse for Spain from then onwards.
In the 72nd-minute, Casillas gifted the ball to Van Persie right in front of the Spanish goal, and as the Dutchman welted the ball in the back of the net, it was as if he had welted a dagger in the Spanish goal keeper’s heart. Robben sealed a 5-1 success with another marvellous individual goal, showcasing dazzling pace to escape the Spanish defending line, rounding Casillas and blitzing the ball into net.
It was an eerie echo for the Spanish team of their 2010 campaign to boot, where they lost the opener to Switzerland and went on to become the first side to raise the Cup after losing an opener. But, even after this match, Spain won’t have it easy: they face a very threatening Chilean side on Wednesday. The Netherlands have, what should be, an easy match earlier on that same day against Australia.
Yesterday’s defeat was a sign of an aging Spanish squad, a squad not of the same zeal as it was in 2010. Spain will have to turn to younger players in next matches to make up for lost goals.
But, for one second, let us sit back and celebrate the Dutch. The match was an enthralling exhibition of magical football by the three forwards: Wesley Sniejder, Van Persie and Robben. They looked like super heroes from a comic book; simply unstoppable, annihilating the reigning champions. It was a sweet victory and great revenge for their 2010 World Cup final loss.
Having emerged as serious contenders for the world cup, after this match, I am going to be rooting for the Flying Dutchman, are you?
The Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are Nokia’s first attempt with Google’s Android software. The moderately priced smartphones are designed to capture the fast-growing affordable smartphone market and provide an on-ramp to Lumia and Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and outlook.com.
The first Nokia android device, the Nokia X, comes with a 4" IPS capacitive display and 3MP camera at PKR 15,500.
The Nokia X+, for PKR 17,350 is ideal for multimedia enthusiasts, who can enjoy even more games, music, photos and video thanks to more memory and storage. Both the Nokia X and Nokia X+ will be available in Nokia’s neon bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black and white.
The third family member, the Nokia XL priced at PKR 19,100 boasts a 5" display with 2MP front-facing camera - ideal for Skype video calls - and a 5MP rear-facing, autofocus camera with flash. The Nokia XL will also be available in bright green, orange, cyan, yellow, black and white.
The entire Nokia X family is powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon(TM) dual core processor and supports Dual SIM, letting people switch SIM cards to get better tariffs.
The Nokia X will go on sale immediately, starting at EUR 89*** and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are expected to roll out in these markets starting early second quarter, priced at EUR 99 and EUR 109, respectively.
Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Nokia's Devices & Services, commented on the launches:
"Nokia has connected billions of people around the world, and today we demonstrated how our portfolio is designed to connect the next billion people to great experiences."
"Our deliberate approach is to offer four tiers of products including our affordable entry-level devices like the new Nokia 220; our entry-level Asha touch phones like the new Nokia Asha 230; our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones primarily for growth economies; and our Lumia portfolio, which is where we introduce the greatest innovation and provide full compatibility with the Microsoft experience," he added.
The Nokia X family features Nokia's renowned handset quality and design, with a fresh, tile-based user interface inspired by our Lumia family
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