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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Spain v Chile: World Cup 2014 live!

Live updates from Spain's crucial Group B game against ChileEmail john.ashdown@theguardian.comOr you can tweet @John_AshdownSid Lowe: del Bosque set to make changes

7.14pm BST

Seems like it's chaos in the bowels of the Maracana:

Total chaos at Maracana as dozens of Chile fans break through fences + charge into press centre. pic.twitter.com/zl9cCBJFlB

Complete chaos in the Maracana press centre. Group of Chile fans running amok pic.twitter.com/2ngmjZqfWi

7.13pm BST

Estimates are varying in number I've seen suggestions ranging from 40 to 100 but a group of Chile fans have stormed the media centre at the Maracana:

Chile fans have just stormed the media centre, trying to get into the ground.

Old skool. Approx 40 Chile fans storm media centre to get thru to Stadium without tickets. Got a bit bouncy there

I'm not sure why but 100+ Chilean fans just ran into media centre at Maracana. Stewards trying to remove them. Glass broken, walls damaged

Now Chile fans smashing up a partition. Reporters holding up camera phones..or running away...some doing both at once

7.09pm BST

Tonight's referee is Mark Geiger of USA! USA!! USA!!! He's the first American referee at a World Cup since 2002. He took charge of Colombia v Greece the other day and did an impressive job. His World Cup started back in September 2011, when he took charge of a qualifier between Guyana and Bermuda not many people have had a longer road to Brazil than him.

7.02pm BST

Confirmation of those Spain changes in full:

Spain: Casillas; Azpilicueta, Javi Martínez, Sergio Ramos, Alba; Alonso, Busquets; Pedro, Iniesta, Silva; Diego Costa. Subs: Reina, De Gea, Albiol, Piqué, Juanfran, David Villa, Xavi, Torres, Fábregas, Mata, Koke, Cazorla.

6.47pm BST

Our roving reporter Hadley Freeman has been out and about in Rio on the hunt for Chile and Spain fans. "It's basically one big Chilean street party here," she writes.

6.39pm BST

Some early team news

Del Bosque has made changes and what changes they are. Xavi and Gerard Pique, with 194 caps between them, have been dropped, with Javi Martinez and Pedro coming into the team. The other players thought to be vulnerable David Silva, Diego Costa and Cesar Azpilicueta have all kept their starting spots.

6.30pm BST

Was Spain's display against Holland an incredible aberration or a sign of a wider malaise in this great side? It's the Arachnophobia conundrum are you with old Dr Metcalf, insisting that there's nothing amiss despite the series of suspicious spider bites, or are you with young Jeff Daniels, who spots that there might just be a much bigger problem? Götterdämmerung? Or a blip?

I have to say I'm with Dr Metcalf with this one (though you can see why they went in the other direction in the film. If he had been proven right, it wouldn't have been much of a movie, Jon Goodman, the best bit about the film, wouldn't have been needed, and the title of Arachnophobia would've been more than a little misleading). A poor half does not a dynasty end. That said, it'll be interesting to see what changes Vicente Del Bosque makes to his side. On the Football Daily podcast today, Sid Lowe is of the opinion that Pedro will come into the first XI instead of David Silva, and that Juanfran will come in for Azpilicueta at right-back. Other possible changes include Koke coming for Xavi, either Fernando Torres or David Villa will step in for Diego Costa, and possibly even Javi Martinez come in for Pique. Iker Casillas, reckons our Sid, will keep his shirt despite his cataclysmic display against the Dutch. And if he doesn't Sid has promised to appear on TV in a dress.

We have our style and we will keep to it. We keep working in the same way and were not going to change that. We hope to play Spain and get all three points. If that eliminates them, so be it. We came to Brazil with the hope of becoming world champions and for that to happen you have to get through different stages and past your rivals.

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