- Gareth O'Reilly
- Mon, Jun 23 2014
The Netherlands proved themselves to be worthy winners of Group B as they overcame Chile thanks to two goals in the last fifteen minutes which were scored by substitutes Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay.
The opening twenty five minutes yielded little for the neutral to be optimistic about with Chile only very marginally on top. Shots from Sanchez and Gutierrez were wild and some distance off target in the early stages of the contest.
There was finally a chance of note as Robben curled a beautiful cross into the box from a free kick. The ball was met by the head of Stefan de Vrij who headed just wide of Bravo's post.
Robben was again in the thick of the action as he broke away at speed before dragging his shot wide having done the hard work by getting away from the Chilean defence.
Chile would have their best chance of the half just before half time as Diaz floated in a free kick which landed perfectly on the head of Gutierrez who headed inches wide.
The second half began much like the first half had with both teams cancelling each other out as a poor game with few clear cut chances looked set to develop.
One of the first shots on target in the half took twenty minutes to arise as Arjen Robben once again lead the Dutch attack before striking the ball straight at Claudio Bravo.
With chances few and far to come by, a Kuyt header flew inches wide of the Chilean goal after Robben demonstrated his superb dead ball deliveries.
Just moments later the Dutch finally did go in front as Leroy Fer, who was only on the pitch a single minute at the time, headed home a cross wide from the right wing.
The Dutch would finish up their group games in style as an Arjen Robben break away move saw a fantastic run end in a ball being played across the box to Depay who slotted into the Chilean goal.
Netherlands: Jasper Cillessen; Daryl Janmaat, Daley Blind, Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, Georginio Wijnaldum, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder (Leroy Fer 76), Jermain Lens (Memphis Depay 69), Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt (Terence Kongolo 89).
Subs Not Used: Bruno Martins Indi, Jonathan de Guzmán, Paul Verhaegh, Joel Veltman, Jordey Clasie, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Michel Vorm, Tim Krul.
Booked: Daley Blind (64).
Chile: Claudio Bravo; Mauricio Isla, Eugenio Mena, Gonzalo Jara, Gary Medel, Francisco Silva (Jorge Valdívia 70), Charles Aránguiz, Marcelo Díaz, Felipe Gutierrez, Alexis Sánchez, Eduardo Vargas (Mauricio Pinilla 81).
Subs Not Used: Milka Albornoz, Carlos Carmona, Arturo Vidal, Mauricio Pinilla, Christopher Toselli, Jose Rojas, Fabian Orellana, Jean Beausejour, Jose Pedro Fuenzalida, Esteban Paredes, Johnny Herrera.
Booked: Francisco Silva (Chile).
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)
Attendance: 62,996
Extratime.com Man Of The Match: Arjen Robben (The Netherlands)
