Goals: Netherlands—Sneijder 88’, Huntelaar 90’+4; Mexico—Dos Santos 48’
Recap: A staggering comeback saw the Netherlands defeat Mexico 2-1 on Sunday.
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An other-worldly finish from Giovani dos Santos opened the affair for Mexico just minutes after the half. Mexico's defensive shell allowed the Netherlands to attack. A headed lay-off from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was buried by Wesley Sneijder in the 88th minute. Just four minutes later, Mexico’s fate was sealed. An untimely challenge from Rafa Marquez, coupled with a melodramatic collapse from Arjen Robben, forced referee Pedro Proenca to point to the spot.
Huntelaar left zero doubts with his finish, crushing Mexican hearts everywhere.
Key Moment: It was another tactical masterclass from Louis Van Gaal. Unable to penetrate the Mexican defense with enough consistency, the Dutch native opted to switch to a more fluid 4-3-3 in the 56th minute. His substitution of Memphis Depay for Paul Verhaegh opened the match. The effects were immediate, seeing Stefan de Vrij’s shot ricochet off Guillermo Ochoa’s face and off the far post. The tactical switch would eventually lead to a Dutch victory.
Man of the Match: Arjen Robben was a menacing presence in the final 15 minutes of the match, but the 30-year-old was predominantly frustrated throughout the match. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, however, made the most of his seven touches, finishing with one goal and an assist.
Lesson Learned: Miguel Herrera deserves a raise. The former Club America manager is being paid the lowest salary out of all 32 head coaches participating in the 2014 World Cup (€125,00). That’s not enough money for a man who resurrected Mexican football, seeing the team perform with immense quality and passion in Brazil. Russia’s Fabio Capello is paid an average of €6.7 million—more than 500 times Herrera’s salary—and yet it’s Mexico who is 500 times the team Russia dreams to be. That needs to change.
ICYMI: Every World Cup manager’s salary, paired with their group stage result. https://t.co/EUc8i02Ei5 pic.twitter.com/CjESErCsdF — Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) June 28, 2014
Up Next: The Netherlands travels to Salvador to participate in the quarterfinals, while Mexico returns home to prepare for the next World Cup cycle.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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