Day 2 of the World Cup was an utter blitz: Mexico persevered through some sketchy calls, Netherlands pounded Spain in a resounding upset and Chile held off a pesky Australia side
The best photos from the second day of the World Cup, featuring Mexico v Cameroon, Spain v Netherlands and Chile v Australia
Mexican fans prepare to enter Arena Das Dunas, where their team faced Cameroon- in a tropical rainstormThis was some serious rainThe Cameroonians came out in force as wellMexico's Hector Herrera and Cameroon's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting fight for the ball in rainy NatalMexican midfielder Giovani dos Santos reacts after an offside call disallowed his 13' goalHis coach, Miguel Herrera, was none too pleased eitherCameroon's veteran forward Samuel Eto'o works to make something of a chaotic situation on Mexico's goal-lineEto'o reacts after his failure to do soDos Santos puts the ball in the net once again off a corner......and reacts with shock as his goal is once again disallowed with an offside call by the linesmanDos Santos and defender Hector Moreno, furious that the score still stands at 0-0Choupo-Moting shoots on goal, while Mexican players pause play to call him offside (which the line-men did as well)Mexico forward Oribe Peralta scores at 61' to bring his team ahead 1-0Peralta and his team-mates celebrate the goalEto'o looks dejected after Mexico pulls ahead during the rainy match playAs time expires, the Mexican team celebrates their country's first World Cup win over an African side, with the final score standing at 1-0Moving to Salvador, fans of Spain celebrate their squad's impending match against The Netherlands, which began at 2000And, not to be outdone, Netherlands fans showed up ready to go, with the World Cup trophy in towAfter a slow, even-paced start, Spain's Brazilian-born striker Diego Costa went down on a controversial penaltyVeteran midfielder Xabi Alonso converted the penalty at 27' putting Spain ahead 1-0Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen dove the right way but failed to make the saveThe World Champions celebrate their early opening match leadA short while later, Netherlands captain forward Robin van Persie earns a new moniker - 'The Flying Dutchman' - after his spectacular goal at 44' - from 17 yards out no lessFrom behind the net, Spanish veteran goalkeeper captain Iker Casillas looks with disbelief as the header floats inVan Persie, no doubt, was pleased with himself...... and new head man Louis van Gaal enjoyed the moment as wellSoon after halftime, Dutch forward Arjen Robben blasts a tricky ball past the Spanish defence at 53' to claim the lead at 2-1And just over 10 minutes later, Netherlands defender Stefan de Vrij (#3) wrangled a free kick into the net with a sneaky headerA heavy foul on Casillas by Van Persie - which the referees somehow missed - helped make the goal possible, bringing the score to 3-1 NetherlandsFollowing another score from Van Persie nine minutes later, Casillas laments his fourth goal conceded on the nightAfter beating Casillas who came out to the edge of the box, Robben scores his second of the night, rounding out the Dutch victory at 5-1Casillas has not experienced a defeat of these proportions on the national level in the past 12 yearsAnd for the final match of the night, Australia fans made the long trip to Brazil, where their side faced Chile at 2300 in CuiabáFans of Chile made the much shorter trek and loudly made their presence know in the Arena PantanalChile forward Alexis Sanchez gave his country the lead early, scoring from six yards out at 12'Australia goalkeeper Maty Ryan looks on, as the ball hits the back of the netAfter only two minutes, Chile scored again, this time off the foot of midfielder Jorge Valdivia, bringing the score to 2-0 earlyNot out of it yet though, Australia bid their time and came roaring back at 35' with a classic leaping header from veteran forward Tim CahillCahill has more World Cup goals than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo combinedChile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo worked to hold off the pesky Aussies right up to the end......as forward Matthew Leckie kept the Socceroos squarely in the match throughout the second half, where the score stalled out at 2-1Yet, it was Chile's night in the end, as midfielder Jean Beausejour (second from left) knocked in a final goal in extra time to solidify the winning score at 3-1
