Chile took Spain by surprise with a 2-0 win yesterday, knocking the defending champions out of the tournament.
Predictions had it that Spain may not succeed in defending their 2010 World Cup title this time round but no one expected them to be eliminated so early in the tournament. Chile took Spain by surprise with a 2-0 win yesterday, knocking the defending champions out of the FIFA World Cup 2014.
Spain's second loss, after a 5-1 rout by the Netherlands, ended any hope of advancing. Chile and the Netherlands will both make it to the knockout stage, regardless of who wins the game between them. Spain's "tiki-taka" style of play, keeping the ball for long stretches with short passes, and only shooting when you had a clear opening, has not been working so well in recent years. Brazil defeated Spain 3-0 in last summer's Confederations Cup, a warm-up for the World Cup.
"We have no excuses," said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, according to Los Angeles Daily News. "We were too slow, timid from the start today. It's a sad day for all of the players. Time to think about the future."
The team also said they were disappointed with how things turned out for them. Captain Iker Casillas said there was a lack of commitment while midfielder Xabi Alonso thought there wasn't enough hunger. According to Fernando Torres, Spain was "just not good enough."
"We didn't know how to maintain our hunger or that conviction needed to win a tournament. The joy and success we've experienced is over," Alonso said from the Maracana stadium, according to ABC News. "We lost our knowhow, which has helped us win so many of these important games. It doesn't feel like our other tournaments."
Cruel memes flooded Twitter after the defeat of world and European champions. Diego Costa was first in the line of fire, suffering jibes for having changed his nationality from Brazilian to Spanish in order to play for the national team.
Meanwhile, another user saw the World Cup logo as a prophecy for the performance of Iker Casillas, who was responsible for letting in the seven goals over two matches that knocked Spain out.
Defeat for Spain meant it became the third reigning champion to be knocked out in the group stage in the last four World Cups. France dropped out at the same stage in 2002, with Italy going the same way in 2010.
