REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

SAO PAULO – A European team has never won a World Cup hosted in South America. Teams like Spain and England have done little to buck that trend. This year, there is one team from Europe which stands a chance of hoisting that beautifully misshapen hunk of gold at the end of the World Cup.

That’s the Netherlands.

The Dutch have never won before, but if ever there was a time for the Oranje to break an 84-year drought, it would be now. The Netherlands first true test against South American talent came Monday against Chile, a team who could find itself advancing deep into the World Cup as the rounds progress.

Surrounded by over 40,000 Chilean fans in the 61,00-seat Arena Corinthians, the Dutch meticulously picked apart a talented Chile team. It was the type of performance necessary for a team with sights on a championship. It was an ugly match for 75 minutes. The pace was rough and plodding, the fans were rowdy, the refereeing was suspect, and the Dutch were without star striker Robin Van Persie.  All things that in the past would be the undoing of the Netherlands, didn’t phase this team.

In the 77th minute, Leroy Fer headed home the first Dutch goal and 13 minutes later, Memphis Depay added a second. The match was almost surgical in nature. Louis van Gaal’s team absorbed a furious Chilean attack for the first 20 minutes, seemingly took the air out of the ball for the next 50 minutes, and then overwhelmed Chile in the final 20 minutes.

AFP PHOTO / DAMIEN MEYER

It was textbook. It’s also the essence of single-match knockout game. Absorb the emotions and fury of the first 20 minutes, before slowing the play down, and eventually striking a blow your opponent can’t recover from.

The Netherlands plays Mexico in the second round. Should the Dutch win, they would face the winner of the match between Costa Rica and the second place team in Group C (either the Ivory Coast or Japan). All respect to those three teams, none are as threatening as Chile, and none will match the traveling support Chile received.

The path to the final is no walk in the park for the Netherlands, but it’s more manageable than the path of other European teams like France and Germany, who look set to play each other in the quarterfinals.

The Netherlands has never won a World Cup. The conditions are right for a bit of history.