Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Rio de Janeiro: Australia's slim chances of progression to the knockout stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup ended as Chile defeated Spain 2-0 at the iconic Maracana Stadium on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the Round of 16 alongside the Netherlands.
The spirited Socceroos went down fighting to the rampant Dutch as Australia lost a five-goal thriller in the earlier Group B fixture in Porto Allegre that left the 2015 AFC Asian Cup hosts needing Spain to defeat the South Americans in Rio to keep their World Cup dream alive.
Iker Casillas was appearing in his 17th FIFA World Cup finals match to become Spain's outright record holder, surpassing fellow keeper Andoni Zubizareta and he was hoping to mark the occasion by atoning for his horror show in the Group B opener when he conceded five times in Spain's heaviest defeat since losing 6-2 to Scotland in Madrid back in 1963.
But with 20 minutes gone the Real Madrid custodian was again fishing the ball out of the net as Chile took the lead with a goal started and finished by two of four Chilean players currently plying their trade in Spain's La Liga.
Barcelona attacker Alexis Sanchez stormed past the Spanish defence before threading the ball to Chalres Aranguiz who teed it to Eduardo Vargas allowing the Valencia striker to touch it past the committed Casillas before firing home.
The nervousness of the defending champions was clear for all to see in a series of tetchy fouls, the most petulant of which coming from Xavi Alonso, who upended defender Mauricio Isla to enter the referees notebook with four minutes of the first-half remaining.
And things went from bad to worse for Spain three minutes later as Aranguiz went from provider to scorer and again a lot of the blame for the goal has to go down to Casillas, who punched a routine Sanchez free-kick right into the path of the Brazil-based midfielder who curled the ball past the maligned Casillas.
Spain started the second-half with purpose, putting Chile on the back foot as they attempted to keep their World Cup hopes alive and should have reduced the deficit eight minutes after the interval but somehow Sergio Ramos blasted the ball wastefully wide from inside the six-yard area after Diego Costa's acrobatic overhead kick found its way to the Real Madrid defender.
Spain looked devoid of ideas but almost pulled one back with seven minutes remaining but Chile's agile keeper Carlos Bravo was equal to Andreas Iniesta's superb long-range effort and clawed the ball to safety before pulling off another impressive save to keep out Santi Carzola's dipping free-kick four minutes later.
A chorus of boos rang out from the sizeable Chilean contingent at the Maracana as the fourth officials board revealed there was to be a minimum of six minutes additional time but Spain couldn't grab the lifeline as the impressive Chile held on for the thoroughly deserved victory.
The fallen champions will bring the curtain down on a dismal Brazil 2014 campaign when they take on Australia while Chile face the Netherlands to determine who goes through as Group B winners in the third round of matches on June 23.
Photo: AFP