Mexico 1, Cameroon 0; Holland 5, Spain 1; Chile 3, Australia 1

Lots of rain; lots of goals. Against Cameroon, Mexico scored three. The first two were wrongly disallowed. … The big news is how heavy Spain’s defeat was against the Netherlands. Afterward, I listened to the analyses of Roberto Martínez (a Spaniard) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (a Dutchman): van Nistelrooy praised the distinctive “Dutch” style of play; Martínez’s veins looked set to burst. It’s the Spanish, of course, whose play resembles the classic “Dutch” style. The Dutch now simply kick long passes to Robben and to van Persie. This time, with those strikers so “in form” — and with Spain’s defense so flustered and its attack so uninspired — the Netherlands’ bet paid off. But I’m not sure what broader lesson can be gained from this. … In the third game, the Chileans were wasteful in front of the Australians’ goal: they shot too little and passed too much. Thus the score was closer than it needed to be, and at the end the Chileans looked exhausted.