Four years ago, Andres Iniesta’s goal in the 116 th minute catapulted Spain to its first World Cup title over Netherlands in a 1-0 victory in South Africa. On Friday, the former finalists meet in the opening Group B match at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil.
Manager Louis van Gaal’s squad was denied its first World Cup title after the nation’s third trip to the final in the tournament’s history, but brings back most of its attacking stars from 2010 including Robin Van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben. However they are only three of seven to make the return trip.
It's no surprise that this will undoubtedly be one of the most anticipated opening matches of the 2014 World Cup, with both teams looking to make a statement to kick things off.
Spain is one of the pre-World Cup favorites, given they have won the last two European Championships and are the defending World Cup champions. They also didn't lose in the qualifying stages, winning six and drawing two en route to winning their group over France.
With that said, their stars are aging and might not be as dominant as they were in previous years. They had 10 clean sheets in the 10 knockout matches in the aforementioned competitions, but were destroyed by Brazil in last summer's Confederations Cup final, mostly on the counterattack. It will be interesting to see what manager Vicente del Bosque decides to do at the striker position. In-form Diego Costa has been battling a hamstring injury, so del Bosque might have to go with Fernando Torres or David Villa -- or a false nine like he did so often in Euro 2012.
Hoping to be the third nation to ever win consecutive World Cups, though not necessarily favored to do so, Spain will once again send out the likes of Iniesta, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and all-world keeper Iker Casillas.
June 13 | 3 pm ET| Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil
TV: ESPN, Univision, CBC in Canada
TV: ESPN, Univision, CBC in Canada
KARATE KICK REDUX: This will be the first time that Spain and the Netherlands will play each other since that fateful day in Johannesburg. It is also the first time that Nigel De Jong andXabi Alonso will see each other face-to-face on the field since then. We all know what happened the last time they saw each other.
Betting Odds: Spain -1/2
Over/Under: 2 goals
Prediction: Spain 1-1 Netherlands
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