Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has called on the humbled word champions to bounce back from their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Holland.
In a replay of the 2010 final, Del Bosque's side went ahead thanks to a dubious 26th-minute penalty before conceding five times without response as the superb Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben scored twice each.
Stefan de Vrij was responsible for the third goal as the Dutch ran riot over FIFA's top-ranked team.
Holland may not now surrender top spot in the group but Del Bosque still wants to see a big response from the Spaniards in their second Group B clash against Chile.
"It's sport, we lost. It is necessary to accept defeat," he told Tele 5.
"We must recognize our mistakes, but everyone fought for a better result.
"I am aware that it is a very delicate time for us. Together we have to try to solve it for the next match against Chile and look for the win." Del Bosque also suggested that David Silva's missed chance moments before Holland equalised - the Manchester City went for an audacious chipped finish but was denied - was a pivotal moment.
"They played better in the second half, but we dominated in the first and went from possibly 2-0 possible with Silva to 1-1 immediately.," he said.
Van Persie was eager to share in some mutual back-slapping with Van Gaal, giving him the lion's share of the credit for the result.
"This is incredible and inexplicable," Van Persie told Voetbal International. "For us, this is a dream come true and we have to enjoy it - everyone in Holland must too.
"This is because of the coach. He has prepared us great and he predicted how the game would go. It's incredible, because it was exactly as he and the staff predicted for us."
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque admitted to feeling physically sick by the nature of the defeat.
Switzerland upset the eventual winners in the opening game four years ago but the manner of this humbling could be harder to bounce back from.
"I feel sick, ill at ease, but with the courage a defeat must not sink us," he said.
"It is not a happy moment, but first of all I want to congratulate the Dutch team, who were superior to us. We have been overwhelmed in the second half.
"We are a team of good professionals and good lads, everyone hurts, so there was no accusatory glances and that's good for the team. There will be time to talk."
The veteran coach also declined to zero in on the performance of Iker Casillas, who was to blame for two of Holland's goals in a shaky performance.
Asked directly about his goalkeeper's display, Del Bosque said: "I insist that it is not the time to blame. The defeats do not come through the performance of a player, but by the weakness of the team. We cannot blame anyone, least of all Iker ".
Source: PA
