Spain'S goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas has received backing from an unexpected quarter after his woeful World Cup Group B performance against Holland - his former coach at Real Madrid, José Mourinho.

Mourinho, who dropped Casillas from the Real side during his final season in charge in 2012-13, and was widely reported to have fallen out with the club captain, said he would not discard the goalkeeper just because of one poor showing.

Holders Spain suffered a 5-1 loss against the Dutch in Salvador, their worst drubbing at a World Cup finals in more than 60 years, and need a win against Chile tonight to get their bid for a second successive title back on track.

Mourinho said: "The goalkeeper position is a very specific one and I wouldn't like to make a change just because of one poor game.

"I would change something only after a bad run of form that clearly shows a keeper lacks confidence and stability and if his body language suggests it would be better to change," added the Portuguese, who is in his second spell at English Premier League side Chelsea.

"Iker has had a fine run with the Spanish national team and he has the confidence of his coach.

"One bad game is not sufficient reason to change keepers."

Spain's coach Vicente del Bosque is unlikely to drop Casillas, whose performances in helping Spain win Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, earned him the nickname "Saint Iker" among fans of the Iberian nation.

Del Bosque's options are limited in any case, as one of his two reserve keepers - Manchester United's David De Gea - is injured.

Liverpool's Pepe Reina is the other stopper in the squad.

Spain - the reigning World Cup holders - know they must beat Chile tonight to have any chance of making the last 16.

In theory, they could still advance from the group stages if they lost to Chile and other results went their way, but in all likelihood they would crash out.

If that happened, they would be only the third defending champions to be eliminated from the competition at the first stage following Brazil in 1966 and France in 2002.

Midfield playmaker Andres Iniesta said: "It is not something we have even considered. We are only concerned with winning."

The Barcelona star added: "We just have to forget what happened last Friday against the Dutch.

"This is our first final, then we face another one against Australia and although we faced a similar situation in South Africa when we lost our first match, this is a very difficult situation.

"We have to win, there is no alternative. And we have to play it as if it was the World Cup final that's the only way to win it.

"Of course we are equipped for that.

"We all know we did not play well in the first match, especially in the second half and it is difficult to explain what happened.

"But although we have not started well, we still have the chance to change the situation."

His words were echoed by Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who said: "All we have thought about since losing to Holland is beating Chile.

"There are always three possibilities in a match, but we have only ever thought about winning.

"Chile is a very dangerous opponent and they are not going to sit back and defend.

"A draw is not enough for us. This is a final now that we have to win.

"We will win it together as a team or lose it together. We just have to be very positive in this situation."