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I suppose "Wow!" is one of the few words that can sum up Holland's 5 - 1 thumping of Spain last night.

I think most of us expected a tight, cagey game of few goals, but last night was not only thrilling to watch but tactically interesting.

One of the reasons why I expected Spain to reach the latter stages this year was because of their two-man pivot of Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso who sit in front of the back four.

It was a point also made by ESPN writer Eduardo Alvarez when we spoke to him on Team 33 before the tournament.

Unlike Barcelona and Spain at the 2013 Confederations Cup, that double shield offers plenty of protection.

However this time, Holland basically bypassed that duo by playing balls over the top, behind Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, which allowed Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben's pace and intelligent movement to exploit the space.

At the heart of that tactic was Ajax's Daley Blind and these Squawka graphic shows his two assists for the first two goals

 

Pique has been off form for the guts of two years and neither he nor Ramos are the most disciplined in terms of their defensive positioning and this was cruelly exposed by a team which chose to target them with long passes rather than to play through them.

Aside from another brilliant cross in the 25th minute, Blind also did well defensively with two of three tackles successful and two interceptions along the left flank.