Netherlands beat Chile to close on top of Group B

With both teams playing for Group B lead, the Netherlands have beaten Chile 2-0 on Monday afternoon (June 23) at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. At the same time, the group's other two teams, Spain and Australia (both already eliminated) faced off in a Curitiba in an atmosphere of defeat. The match ended at a 3-0 win for the latest world champion, Spain, with David Villa, Juan Mata, and Fernando Torres scoring.

By winning over Chile, the Netherlands have completed the group phase on top, with Chile as runner-ups. The two teams have run for goals, but missed their few shoots, ending the first half at a 0-0 draw. Chile pressed on and focused on possession, but failed to shoot, whereas the Netherlands, sporting their traditional orange jerseys for the first time in this World Cup, responded with speedy counterattacks with Robben, Sneijder and Lens.

The second half saw no significant changes in either team's approach – none of them risked sending too many men forward. Only past 30 minutes of play did the Netherlands manage to have a good shoot on goal with Depay, but the goalkeeper, Bravo, palmed away for a corner. In the corner kick, a high ball in the area found Leroy Fer, who headed into the corner to score 1-0 home.

The adverse balance angered Chile, who pressed more aggressively for an equalizer. However, Chile's advances gave the Netherlands the exploit they were looking for – with a counterattack on 46 minutes, Robben rushed ahead and centered for Depay to score the second goal. With the 2-0 result, the Netherlands closed the group phase with the highest goal difference so far – 7 goals, out of 10 scored and 3 conceded.

Translated by Mayra Borges