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"If you're a World Cup newcomer, or a skeptical holdout looking for reasons to jump into this tournament the rest of the world seems to be embracing, you're in luck. Friday offered a trio of highly entertaining games with goals aplenty, several more outrageous referee calls, and one of history's greatest upsets. It was the World Cup equivalent of a welcome mat. \nThe roster began with Mexico versus Cameroon, in the driving rain of Natal \u2014 a foreshadowing of what is to come in this tropical climate. This was World Cup as water sport. We were treated to the sight of world-class players charging around in soaked-through kits, often unable to connect to the ball on a pitch that acted as a slip and slide. \nSee also: World Cup Day 1 Recap: Wait, What Just Happened?\nCameroon battled bravely against a team that was clearly more talented, and Mexico was unlucky with a couple of harsh calls on would-be goals in the first half. Mexico's Oribe Peralta finally broke the deadlock early in the second half. But Cameroon kept fighting till the end \u2014 and considering that they lost all but one of their last 14 World Cup games, there's no shame in going down to Mexico 1-0. \nAnd Cameroon were extremely unlucky not to claw one goal back in the 90th minute, when the African side forced the best save of the tournament so far from Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa:\n\nThen all eyes turned to Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador for a grudge match between Spain and the Netherlands, a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final. Spain won by a single scrappy goal last time; this time, a single dubious penalty in the first half was all they could manage. The Dutch decimated the Spanish defense, charging forward again and again like tireless greyhounds, reaching the back of the Spanish net an incredible five times. \nOne of those goals will be remembered more than the rest, perhaps more than any other goal of this World Cup. That goal belonged to Robin van Persie, whose one-touch leaping header instantly earned him the nickname the Flying Dutchman.\nOne World Cup newcomer asked me today whether it was common for winning teams to defend the title for tournament after tournament, Yankees-style. That hasn't happened since Pele, the greatest player in history, hoisted the cup for Brazil in 1962, I responded. This game shows you why. It's just too easy for the defending champions to be picked off, either through the pressure they put on themselves, or because their opponents have spent the previous four years figuring out how to pick their locks. \nSpain could yet bounce back, of course \u2014 that's the other exciting thing about the World Cup. There is room for redemption at the group stage, and fortunes can turn on a dime.\nFinally we turned to Arena Pantanal in Cuiab\u00E1 for Australia versus Chile, and another classic World Cup trope: the plucky underdog. The Socceroos, as the Aussie team is known, are ranked so lowly by FIFA as to make Cameroon look like three-time winners. Still they threw everything they had at the superior South American side. \nIt wasn't nearly enough in the first 15 minutes, when Chilean superstar Alexis Sanchez and his teammate Jorge Valdivia made short work of the Australian defense. It looked like a blowout. But the Socceroos refused to be rattled, and 20 minutes later Tim Cahill rose to the occasion and headed in a cracking goal:\nAustralia came close several more times, but a Cinderella ending was not to be. Still, Chile and the world were put on notice: in the World Cup, it is never enough to be considered the better team. \nFor an encore, check out our selection of the best pictures of the day:\n\n\nWorld Cup: Day 2\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe shadows of Chile soccer fans are cast on a fence outside the Arena Pantanal as they arrive to their team's World Cup match with Australia in Cuiaba, Brazil on June 13.\n\nImage: Felipe Dana/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNetherlands' Arjen Robben, right, is challenged by Spain's Fernando Torres during the Group B World Cup soccer match between Spain and the Netherlands at the Arena Ponte Nova in Salvador, Brazil on June 13.\n\nImage: Manu Fernandez/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Spanish team line up before the Group B World Cup soccer match between Spain and the Netherlands at the Arena Ponte Nova in Salvador, Brazil on June 13. \n\nImage: Manu Fernandez/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpain's Diego Costa (19) goes up against Netherlands' Ron Vlaar to head the ball during the Group B World Cup soccer match between Spain and the Netherlands at the Arena Ponte Nova in Salvador, Brazil on June 13. \n\nImage: Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMexico soccer fan Jose Reyna, center, reacts as he watches his team's World Cup match with Cameroon inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 13. Mexico won 1-0. \n\nImage: Leo Correa/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDuring the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group B match between Spain and Netherlands at Arena Fonte Nova on June 13 in Salvador, Brazil, David Silva of Spain scores past Jasper Cillessen of the Netherlands, but the goal was disallowed. \n\nImage: Jeff Gross/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRobin van Persie of the Netherlands celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group B match between Spain and Netherlands at Arena Fonte Nova on June 13 in Salvador, Brazil.\n\nImage: Alex Grimm - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSoccer fans wearing soccer-shaped hats wait in the departure lounge of Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport on June 13 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.\n\nImage: Oli Scarff/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIvory Coast's French coach Sabri Lamouchi gives a press conference in Recife, on June 13, on the eve of their Group C FIFA World Cup football match against Japan. \n\nImage: Issouf Sanogo/AFP Photo/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpain soccer fans celebrate their team's goal against the Netherlands as they watch the World Cup match inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 13. \n\nImage: Leo Correa/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDutch football fans cheer at Museumplein in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on June 13, 2014, after the Netherlands defeated Spain 5-1 during their 2014 FIFA World Cup match. \n\nImage: Evert Elzinga/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/13/world-cup-day-2-the-rain-spain-pain-and-solid-game/>