Outgoing world champions Spain brought the curtain down on their tournament by recording victory over plucky Australia, while Holland beat Chile 2-0 to top the group.

Nightmare defeats to Holland and Chile left Spain adrift and without a chance of qualification going in to their final game. Standing in their way of victory was an Australia side that has won many plaudits for strong performances against the other teams in the group.

Spain coach Vincente Del Bosque made seven changes following defeat to Chile, and it was one of those players coming in, David Villa, who opened the scoring after another indifferent opening 30 minutes from his team.

Villa converted neatly in front of goal following a nice move up the right by Iniesta and Juanfran. It was an emotional day for Villa as he marked his final ever Spain appearance with a goal before being substituted.

One of Spain’s many miss-firing stars, Fernando Torres, made it 2-0 with a cool finish from Iniest’a through ball on 69 minutes, whilst Manchester United’s Juan Mata completed the scoring eight minutes from time.

In the groups other game, Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay scored late goals to hand Holland a 2-0 win over Chile in the fight for top spot.

It had been a fine display of counter-attacking football from the Dutch after Chile had dominated possession with 68% of the play. However, Van Gaal’s side managed 17 shots to Chile’s 9.

Photo: Action Images

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