Spain, the last nation standing at the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa, became the first to exit this edition with Wednesday’s 2-0 blanking by Chile at the famed Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Maracana will be the site of the World Cup final on July 13, and while many thought Spain’s World Cup quest would end on this pitch, few thought it would occur in the month of June.
Thus endeth one of the great eras by any national team in football history: between 2008 and 2012, La Furia Roja (“The Red Fury”) won one World Cup (2010), two European championships (2008 and 2012), and one Confederations Cup (2009).
Like Italy before them in 2010, the Spaniards were Euro-trashed: defending World Cup champions who not only failed to advance beyond the group stage, but failed to win a match out of two outings, though with a match against Australia on Monday.
“I can only ask fans for forgiveness,” said Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, who allowed two first-half goals that would go unanswered. “We did everything we could.”
Casillas was one of a number of Spanish team members who played for either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid this past season in La Liga.
The two sides advanced to the UEFA Champions League final, which was not contested until the final weekend of May.
In other words, many key contributors on this side barely had time to doff their professional kits before flying across the Atlantic to Brazil.
“We have no excuses,” said Spanish coach, Vicente del Bosque. “It’s a sad day for all the players.”
And the end of an era.
Chile, meanwhile, continues its semi-surprising start with a second straight victory and passage into the knockout round of 16.
While three other South American nations have triumphed at the World Cup, each of them at least twice (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay), the Chileans have only once advanced to the semi-finals (in 1962).
Since the start of 2013, however, they have forged draws in matches versus Brazil and Spain while defeating Uruguay twice and England once.
La Roja is for real. They will be sticking around Brazil for at least another 10 days, many of their fans may not, though.