Spain took the lead. It looked like business as usual for the champions. At the final whistle, they had lost 5-1. A wake-up call had been given to the world.
That thrashing in 2014 remains the biggest defeat that a defending champion has ever suffered at the Fifa World Cup. For the Netherlands, it started with an extraordinary header.
From that moment, it became a Dutch performance that gave many viewers an important change in perception as to what successful football should be. It wasn’t about how much ball you had. It was about what sort of chances you could create when you had it.
This was supposedly the death knell of tiki-taka after Spain had successfully short-passed their way to back-to-back European Championship titles as well as their maiden Fifa World Cup triumph.
Spanish football had got a warning the previous year when Barcelona and Real Madrid both crashed out of the Uefa Champions League in the semifinals at the hands of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively, but the end of their dominating era was only confirmed at the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
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You won’t find a goal that goes more against the Spanish philosophy than that Robin van Persie header in their opening group game in Salvador.
It wasn’t just that it was a cross from open play that created a header. It was also a long ball that cut out any midfield buildup and went straight to the striker. Everything about it went against what Spanish football was renowned for.
You normally associated great van Persie goals with a cannon left foot, but it was a header that had the world in awe.
Everything about it was impressive. The timing of the jump as well as the hang-time with van Persie waiting for the ball to arrive in mid-air, defying physics.
As for the actual finishing touch, it worked as a perfectly looped lob over Iker Cassillas in goal.
In celebration, the striker ran straight to coach Louis van Gaal, an indication that catching the Spanish defence flat-footed by that sort of delivery had been part of the plan.
That levelled matters. Then the Dutch ran riot in the second half handing out the famous “Sp51n” scoreline in an act of revenge for losing in the final to La Roja four years previously.
Significantly, the Dutch only had 36 per cent possession, which served as statistical proof that you didn’t have to have the lion’s share of the ball in order to dominate a football game.
Eight years on, what will be the prevalent winning formula in Qatar? Will it be geared towards forward-pressing and counter-attacks? Will more possession-based tactics be rewarded? Or will we see more of a balance between the two?
At the moment, it all seems up in the air – a bit like that van Persie header.