Spain v Holland, World Cup 2014: as it happened

What a night for Holland. Tika Taka is dead, Total Football reigns. Or at least that's what it will be called, even if lethal counter-attacking at pace was the key to the Dutch victory. I'll leave you with the image of the night as Van gaal and Van Persie celebrate after Van Perise's brilliant header turned the game around.Join me here for Chile v Australia in about three minutes or so . Thanks for all your emails and comments.

Any Manchester United fans want to say that Louis van Gaal isn't the right man to replace David Moyes? Didn't think so.

Full time: Spain 1 Holland 5. So hands up who saw that coming? It is the biggest defeat any defending champion has ever suffered and perhaps the strangest thing about it is that for the first 44 minutes they looked pretty comfortable. A little too comfortable, Roy Keane might say. Had David Silva made it 2-0 just before half time it would have been game over. Instead, seconds later, Van Persie levelled with a stunning header and the Dutch regrouped at half time ran riot in the second half.

90+1 min: It looks like a certain consolation for Torres but just as he's about to roll the ball into the empty net Janmaat sticks out a toe and deflects the ball away. That seems to sum up the past three years for Torres.

90 min: Four minutes of stoppage time are signalled as once again the Dutch over-elaborate when a simple pass would have done. Sneijder on the stretch can't get any power behind his shot.

88 min: If Robben was less greedy it could be six now, though if Robben was less greedy he wouldn't be half the player he is.

86 min: It should be six (and seven if Alan Partridge was commentating). It's a beautiful move as Blind picks out the substitute Wijnaldum, who skips inside a desperate challenge before firing stright at Casillas. Robben then thwacks the rebound first time and again Casillas saves.

83 min: So is this the end for the great Spanish team? They can bounce back from this of course, but they may need a big change in personnel for their next match against a really strong Chile side.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 5 (FIVE) (Robben 80) Just the five for Holland as Robben gets his second. Spain are a shambles and Sneijder, who appears to have come out of the retirement he went into in 2010, pings the ball wide to Robben who outpaces Ramos in a 40-yard sprint, first takes it wide and then shuffles inside the hapless Casillas and waits and waits and waits before bursting the net with an emphatic finish. This is astonishing. And there's more in this for Holland too.

78 min: Van Persie's work is done. He's replaced by Veltman while Fabregas comes on for David Silva.

77 min: Torres wants a penalty as he goes to ground inside the area. For a moment it looks as if the referee agrees wth him but he's actually pointing for a goal kick rather than a penalty.

76 min: Van Gaal makes his second change as goalscoreer De Vrij comes off and Lens is on.

76 min: Sergio Ramos has decided that he is the man to rescue this situation and elects himself free-kick taker. Predictably he fails to him the target from 30 yards.

74 min: It's worth remembering that Spain lost their opener in the last World Cup too, though their group on that occasion was nowhere near as tough as it is this time. It's also worth remembering that runners-up in this group will likely face Brazil in the last-16.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 4 (Van Persie 72) This is insane. Truly insane. What is Iker Casillas doing? It's a simple backpass but his first touch is one that Mick McCarthy would be ashamed of. Van Persie pounces, toes it away from Casillas' desperate lunge as he tries to retrieve the situation and the Holland striker slots it into the empty net.

69 min: Van Persie again forces a save from Casillas with a long range effort which the Spain captain strangely elects to block with his legs. This is frantic stuff.

67 min: Disallowed goal for Spain as David Silva scrambles the ball over the line but is ruled to be offside after Cillessen spills a close range effort from Pedro. It's the correct decision (I think).

65 min: Robin van Persie picks up a yellow card for a rash challenge on Alba and this game is threatening to boil over.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 3 (De Vrij 64) What is going on here?! It's a goal out of nowhere as a free kick is swung into the back post by Sneijder. Van Persie appears to collide with Casillas as a bunch of players throw themselves at the ball at the back post. One of those is De Vrij who scrambles the ball over the line. he seems to had it against his own knee, it comes back off the post and hits his foot and trickles over the line. Casillas isn't happy - he is certain he was fouled by Van Persie - and he gets booked for his complaints.

61 min: Double change for Spain: Fernando Torres is on for Diego Costa while Pedro replaces Xabi Alonso. For Holland, Georginio Wijnaldum comes on for De Guzman

59 min: Robin van Perise hits the bar with a rocket of a right-footed volley. It was a devastating run through the middle by Robben. He finds right back Janmaat who is hanging around the edge of the Spain area for some reason. He pokes it wide to Van Persie who is level with the last man and he allows it to hop once before crashing his shot against the bar.

58 min: I've been trying to go easy on Mark Lawrenson but he's just attempted a 'not' joke. We're better than that.

55 min: Diego Costa is lucky to be on the pitch. He's thrown his head at Martins Indi, who collapses to the ground. Costa didn't make much contact - at least nowhere near as much as Martins Indi is making out - but he's lucky the Italian referee hasn't seen it.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 2 (Robben 52) What a strike from Arjen Robben. I said Holland were knocking it around nicely and it's a lovely move that leads to the goal. They work it through midfield to Blind on the left. He clips the ball to Robben who controls brilliantly with his left foot while in the air. He then turns inside Pique and shifts the ball out from under his feet before firing past Casillas. It takes a slight deflection on the way through which may have helped deceive Casillas. Holland have turned this game around in seven minutes either side of half-time.

51 min: Holland look a lot more assured this half. they're knocking the ball around is if they're Spanish. Meanwhile the actual Spanish are defending in numbers as if they are the Dutch.

48 min: Andres Iniesta tries his luck from distance but Cillessen gathers at the second attempt. Meanwhile, Rowland Belcher writes:

'Love the World Cup. however please slow up the game around the first half penalty, and you see the uncontrolled slipping Dutch defender being trodden on by Costa's foot and hence the defenders momentum carrying Costa's foot away from under him. Not a professional foul, and yet football's heirarchy can't see further than their noses to use technology e.g 3rd umpire, to assist making the correct decision. Other sports put footballs dishonesty to shame, and yet it's given prime viewing for all the world's young impressionable kids. Not good 'schooling'. Bring back honour to the game by embracing technology.'

46 min: There is some suggestion from Mark Ogden, our man in Salvador, that some of the booing for Diego Costa is being accompanied by homophobic chanting.

Peep!! Holland get the second half underway and the main news is that it's bucketing down now in Salvador.

The teams are back out and we're ready to go. No changes on either side.

High five! Robin van Perise and Louis van Gaal celebrate.

And another, from a marginally more impressed Helen.

'Now that was a proper, good old-fashioned, real football goal.'

Some emails, first from a disgruntled Spain fan in Helen Humphrey.

'I am British but I have supported Spanish Football ever since I first went on holiday there and saw how they supported their teams. However I cannot think where on earth they found this bunch of wimps. They are falling over at the slightest excuse, they can't pass for toffee, on the rare occasions they do reach their man he's standing still, they are a disgrace. As for the penalty, the Dutch player was unfortunate enough to leave his trailing leg near the Spanish player's trailing leg and, of course, the latter took the opportunity to fall over. Currently they are playing like a bunch of twits.'

Here's Robin van Persie's Billy the Fish impression

Here's your half-time dollop of Ray Winstone ...

Half time: Spain 1 Holland 1 The whistle goes and the Dutch are euphoric as they leave the pitch. But for Cillessen's fingerip save they would have been two down and out of this match. Instead Van Persie's brilliant header just seconds later leaves this game perfectly poised.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 1 (Van Persie 44) What a goal from Robin van Persie! It has come out of nowhere as Daley Blind pings a long, crossfield ball towards the edge of the Spain box. Van Persie throws himself at it and somehow arcs a perfect diving header over Casillas and into the net. The power he gets in the header is astonishing. He gets a mouthful of grass for his trouble and he lands but it's totally worth it.

42 min: David Silva is denied a wonderful second by a good save from Cillessen. It's an incredible through ball from Iniesta, who opens the gap for himself in centre midfield and slides the Manchester City man through. Silva tries to dink the ball over Cillessen but the keeper stays big and pushes the ball wide.

40 min: Yellow card for Stefan de Vrij for a bodycheck on David Silva.

Damian Durrant writes - 'Two dodgy penalties in two days: will FIFA's 'don't innovate only respond to crisis' approach mean this is the World Cup that leads to video appeals and off field rulings for penalties?'

There's a long answer to that but the short answer is 'no'.

35 min: Jonathan De Guzman goes in pretty hard on Xabi Alonso and needs to be careful - he's already on a yellow card.

33 min: Nigel De Jong puts down his fouling tools for a minute and instead tries a long range left footed shot which doesn't cause Casillas too much trouble.

31 min: It's been a good response to going behind from HollandNetherlands the Dutch. First De Guzman gets in a good position but there's nobody to meet his cross. Then Blind swings in a ball from the left which Ramos lunges at but fails to connect. Any touch and we may have had another own goal.

^{Seconds after this Costa dived or was fouled, depending on what country you are from}

29 min: The replay for the penalty incident suggest the foul on Costa was not quite as clearcut as first thought. The contact was pretty minimal and Costa went to ground, which was a bit odd as his next move would have been a shot on goal.

GOAL! Spain 1 Holland 0 (Alonso 26) Cillessen goes the right way, low to his right, but Alonso's penalty is placed perfectly in the corner and Spain have the lead.

25 min: Penalty to Spain! Costa is brought down inside the area as he cut inside Vlaar after being played through by Xavi. At first viewing It looks a definite penalty - Vlaar caught his trailing leg. Xabi Alonso to take ...

24 min: Yellow card for De Guzman for cynically hauling down a Spain counter attack after a promising Dutch move breaks down.

22 min: The first corner of the game goes to Spain after Iniesta and Silva are crowded out trying to play their way through the Dutch defence. Xavi's inswinging delivery nearly finds goalscorings Sergio Ramos but the ball sails over the Real Madrid man's head.

20 min: A half-chance for David Silva who again dawdles and allows Vlaar back to make the tackle. Stop dawdling people. This is neither the time nor the place.

19 min: Arjen Robben timewasting klaxon! There appears to be a problem with his boot, which he can't untie to rectify. 'He hasn't got any nails,' says Mark Lawrenson, helpfully.

17 min: More loose play from the Dutch who give the ball away 40 yards from their goal. Yet again and it's Silva who feeds Costa whose shot is miles off target but on the plus side takes out one of the people who has been booing him high up in the stand.

14 min: Nigel De Jong escapes a booking for a tackle on Sergio Busquets. What's that you say? Have we not learnt from history? Are we destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again for all eternity, or until De Jong stops fouling people (whichever comes first)?

12 min: Now it's Spain's turn to waste a golden opportunity as Swansea's Jonathan de Guzman is robbed in midfield by David Silva. The ball is played through to Costa who hesitates and allows Ron Vlaar to get back and block. Like some sort of man possessed Vlaar then goes charging after the loose ball and makes another timely tackle. That's what being away from Aston Villa does to you.

10 min: Iniesta has Spain's first effort on goal - or near goal to be more precise - as his long-range effort curls over Cillessen's crossbar

7 min: Great chance for Sneijder and he wastes it, shooting feebly at Casillas when one-on-one with the Spanish keeper after being put through by Robben. It really is a poor effort - no real power at all in the shot - and Casillas claws it away with his right arm.

4 min: Spain have all the ball so far but there's no real threat to the Dutch backline. Holland's only foray forward comes as Vlaar tries to pick out Van Persie over the top but Azplicueta is covering and heads back to Casillas.

2 min: The Diego Costa effect is already evident. Gerard Pique plays a long ball towards the striker. A long ball! By Spain! Costa, who is being booed by the Brazilians in the crowd, is unable to collect.

1 min That didn't take long. The first foul of the match comes after 23 seconds and it's by a Dutch player, Aston Villa's Ron Vlaar, who clatters into the back of football's answer to Don Draper, Diego Costa.

Peeeeep! We're underway in Salvador. Both teams are in their HD-pleasing unicolour away kits

Referee watch. The man in the middle is Italian Nicola Rizzoli who, as well as being a star of the movie Grease, comes from a top, top league so will make no mistake. Isn't that right, Howard Webb?

Anthem watch. I'm giving the edge to the Dutch on account of having actual words in their anthem. Early psychological advantage to Louis van Gaal.

Not long now. The teams are out on the pitch, looking fierce and mean. Or as fierce and mean as you can look while holding hands with a small child wearing a Fifa Fair Play T-shirt.

This is one of a number of Groups of Death in the World Cup, which makes the competition seem like a particularly gruesome episode of Game of Thrones. Anyway, here is Thom Gibbs to explain just what a Group of Death is.

19.40 This Spanish squad is said to be more relaxed than in 2010, when they felt the pressure to justify their position as the best team in the world. But they started slowly four years ago losing to Switzerland in their opener, which gives the Dutch some hope for tonight. Because Switzerland clearly went from strength to strength after that victory.

What you really want now is a sneak peak inside the two teams dressing rooms which, thanks the miracle of digital photography, you can get right here, right now.

^{The Spain dressing room. Nice and tidy with pictures of the players hanging above their pegs in case they don't know where to go.}

^{And the Dutch dressing room. No need for pictures here (as far as we can tell)}

Why all the fuss about tonight's game? You haven't asked but I'll answer anyway. Wellhere's Project Babb's cheat sheet to help you get to the bottom of it all .

^{Downtown Salvador - things may not be as sober as they appear}

Fancy getting in on the ground floor of a foolproof get-rich quick scheme?* Course you do. Well simply watch our digital premonition of tonight's game, then take your money to your local turf accountant and have a bet on the correct score. Easy.

_{* This is highly, highly unlikely to get your rich, either quickly or slowly. In fact, you will probably lose money.}

Useless trivia alert. Holland are wearing No 1-11 in tonight's game. The last team to do this in a World Cup finals match were ... Holland in the 2010 final.

The teams are in and there are no real surprises in either line-up. They key question is how Van Gaal sets out his side but for the moment it looks like a 5-3-2 which could easily become a 3-4-3. Spain eschew the false No 9 option and instead go with an old fashioned No 9 in Diego Costa who may be playing his first ever top-level game in Brazil tonight. Each of the two Brazil caps he won before switching to Spain came in friendlies in London while his entire club career has been in Spain.

Spain starting XI: Casillas; Azplicueta, Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Silva, Iniesta; Diego Costa.

Holland starting XI: Cillessen; Janmaat, Vlaar, de Vrij, Martins Indi, Blind; de Jong, de Guzmán, Sneijder; Robben, Van Persie

Good evening. It has been a grand total of three finals matches since and met in a brutal, attritional final in Johannesburg four years ago.

The Mark van Bommel and Nigel De Jong led assault on the cultured, tika-taka toting Spaniards left everyone but referee Howard Webb aghast (though secretely it was all pretty funny) but justice was finally done as Andres Iniesta rifled in the winner and Spain were crowned world champions.

Vicente del Bosque 's side have since added a second successive European Championship title and go into this tournament knowing that if they win their next seven games they will probably go down as the greatest team ever to play the game.

But it could have been so different. Had Arjen Robben taken a late chance four years ago when the game was still goalless the Dutch would be world champions. 'It is part of sport, just a moment, a snapshot,' Robben said yesterday. 'But it will be part of me and part of my career for all of my life.

But Holland claim tonight is not about revenge, which is nice of them considering they were the ones who tried to decapitate Xabi Alonso and take off Iniesta's legs one at a time.

But what is tonight about? The first game each team plays in a World Cup is usually a bit of a fact-finding mission for all involved; for us, the (relatively) impartial viewers, for the fans of each team and even for teams themselves as they discover how they will cope when the pressure is really on.

But again tonight is a little bit different.

Spain. We all know what to expect. The 'oh my God, this is so dull' comments will be bouncing around Twitter before the clock is in double figures. It is expected that six of the the team that starts in Salvador tonight also started in the 2008 European Championship final against Germany in Vienna. That's how consistent and reliable this side are, both in personnel and in style.

'We are not Talibans with just one way of playing,' Del Bosque said this week, and while Diego Costa may give him a Plan B, they seem pretty militant about their approach.

Others in the Spanish camp are less defensive.

'We're going to win or die with this style of play,' says Xavi. 'We want to make history again with this style of play.

'Our style of play is very clear. We want to dominate the game; keep possession. We've had this style for many years and had a great many successes, so I think it would be a mistake to change it.'

Holland offer more variety. The absence through injury of Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman has forced Louis van Gaal to tinker with various formations as the tournament drew closer, none of which jumped out as the definitive solution to the soon to be Manchester United manager.

And beyond a front three of Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, his team of Eredivisie stars is largely unproven at this level.

Whether or not they will wilt under Spanish pressure, we shall see. Whatever happens, it promises to be fun.