The End Of An Era!

Last updated : 19 June 2014 By Footy Mad - Editor

CHILE 2 SPAIN 0



Spain suffered the humiliation of being the first reigning champions to be knocked out of the World Cup after just two matches as Chile sent their tens of thousands of fans in the Maracana into rapture.

A tactical masterpiece from Chile's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli laid the foundation for the South Americans to humble their more-glamorous European opponents with goals from Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aranguiz securing a 2-0 win.

It is not the first time the reigning world champions have failed to make the knock-out rounds - Italy suffered that indignity in 2010 and so did France in 2002 - but never before has it happened after the first two games.

The 5-1 hiding handed out by Holland in the opening match was still reverberating for Spain, and the pattern of that nightmare second half of last Friday night continued.

Vincente del Bosque's side appeared frozen into inaction, and it did not help that they were playing a Chile side whose spirit was stoked by tens of thousands of fans bouncing off the walls of the Maracana - in some cases literally as thousands without tickets remained outside the stadiums with around 200 bursting through a security cordon prior to kick-off.

From the start, Chile - who have looked hugely impressive in the last couple of years, not least in a 2-0 win over England at Wembley in November - were fired up for this fray.

They served noticed of their threat when Gonzalo Jara, of Nottingham Forest, headed over from a good position - and held his head afterwards too: he knew it was a gilt-edged chance.

Spain knew they had to win and Claudio Bravo in the Chile goal stood in Xabi Alonso's way when the Real Madrid midfielder pounced on Andres Iniesta's deflected pass with only the keeper to beat.

He looked certain to score but Bravo stopped it with one hand at close range, and Alonso's next involvement was to lose the ball in the move which saw Chile go ahead.

Alexis Sanchez snapped up possession and played in Charles Aranguiz who picked out Vargas with a brilliant centre. The Valencia forward kept his head while Spain were losing theirs and neatly sidestepped Iker Casillas before sliding it home.

Alonso attempted to make amends but blasted high and wide from Diego Costa's lay-off, before the striker scuffed a shot into the turf and side-netting as Spain's frustrations increased.

Two minutes before half-time and Spain's looming crisis became a fully-fledged disaster.

Casillas, heavily criticised after the Holland debacle and fortunate to keep his place, did himself no favours with a fairly pathetic double-handed fist at Sanchez's gentle free-kick and the ball dropped to Aranguiz who controlled it and then toe-poked back past the sorry keeper to make it 2-0.

Another bad miss from Costa, who was mercilessly taunted by the Chile fans, was followed by Jordi Alba spraying his shot wide as desperation set in for Spain in the second half.

Chile then turned rather wasteful, failing to kill off the game completely with Vargas shooting straight at Casillas, Mauricio Isla scooping over at full-stretch and Sanchez dallying too long when in space.

Del Bosque sent on Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla to try a last-ditch rescue attempt and the Arsenal midfielder came close to scoring, denied by a sprawling save low to his right by Bravo with 10 minutes left.

Bravo was bravura to the last with more top-class saves, notably from Cazorla's free-kick.

Spain looked like broken men. After the 2010 triumph sandwiched by two European Championship wins - their world has come crashing down.

Xabi Alonso admitted that it is the end of an era for Spain after the reigning champions bowed out of the World Cup in ignominy.

Chile's 2-0 victory at the Maracana, following on from Holland's 5-1 rampage last week, saw Spain set an unwelcome record as the only champions to bow out after just two matches of the group stage.

Alonso, Real Madrid's former Liverpool midfielder, said: "Things are going to change. Eras end with defeats... and this was a painful defeat.

"It's a completely unexpected failure but that is sport. These things happen. It was unexpected but we have to take the great sadnesses in the same way as we take the great joys, as men."

Alonso said Spain had failed to keep their hunger for success burning and that a golden era for his generation of Spanish players is now over.

Xabi Alonso "I think it's a bit of everything. Mentally we weren't ready, physically maybe the same but, putting that all together, we weren't in the best shape."

He added: "I believe that we haven't been able to maintain the same levels of conviction, of hunger. The success, the happiness of before is gone, it's run out and we haven't been able to keep it going.

"We've made lots of mistakes, we've lost a bit of our know-how, and we've paid for it with our solidity that had helped us win so many games.

"We've not been able to keep the same levels of ambition and hunger, perhaps the real conviction to go for the championship."

"I think it's a bit of everything. Mentally we weren't ready, physically maybe the same but, putting that all together, we weren't in the best shape.

"Then we have played against teams that were well-prepared and at their peak, and now we're going home.

"It hurts our pride a lot, but this is football. But as I said, we've known how to win and now we have to know how to lose."

Spain's captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had a disastrous tournament with bad mistakes in both matches, was at a loss to explain what had happened.

He said: "We ask people's forgiveness. We are responsible but also the first ones to feel the pain."

The exit was treated as a tragedy in the Spanish media - Madrid sports daily Marca's headline was "The End - a lamentable end to a glorious era for La Roja".