After a golden era that saw the ‘˜Spanish Armada’ cruise to a European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010, it seems luck has not been so benign on Spain after all.
After a golden era that saw the ‘Spanish Armada’ cruise to a European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010, it seems luck has not been so benign on Spain after all. The defending champions slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Chile and in turn made an exit route from the FIFA World Cup in Brazil on Wednesday after their second defeat in five days.
It was always going to be a rough ride for the Spaniards as the Chileans ran victorious from goals scored by Eduardo Vargas and Charles Arranguiz. The result thus allowed the South Americans and the Netherlands, the first teams to go through to the second round in tournament. And for Spain, they raked up another record by equalling Italy’s unwanted record in 1950 of being booted out of the World Cup after just two games.
It was Chile’s first win over the Spain in 11 meetings. It seemed Vincent del Bosque’s men had lack of confidence and it was evident from their 5-1 thrashing to the Netherlands in their first Group B game.
Spanish Coach Vicente del Bosque dropped established stars Gerard Pique and Xavi Hernandez but had little effect on the La Roja who were playing in front of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.
The likes of Diego Costa, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta and Xavi looked hapless and out of sorts. While the historic Maracana stadium erupted into a riot of red and blue as Chilean supporters started noisy celebrations. This could well and truly be the ‘end of era’ for the Spanish stalwarts as the world awaits a ‘new champion’ within three weeks time.
Chile plays Netherlands to decide top place in Group B on June 23. Spain plays their final game against Australia on the same day.
