Rio de Janeiro: Spain’s reign in world football is over. It took only two matches for the defending champions to lose their World Cup crown. A 2-0 defeat at the hands of a gifted Chilean team at the Maracana here on Wednesday ended Spain’s hopes advancing to the next round.
Five defending champions had crashed out of the first round in 19 editions of the World Cup but none had faced the ignominy after only two matches. After suffering a crushing 5-1 loss against the Netherlands in their opener in Group B, Spain needed a win on Wednesday to stay in the hunt but they fell prey to hungrier opponents.
Chile grabbed the lead in the 20th minute through Eduardo Vargas after Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso lost the ball with a casual pass in a dangerous position. The exuberant South American team added one more at the stroke of half-time when Charles Aranguiz rifled home with the outside of his right foot after Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas had parried an Alexis Sanchez free kick. The champions threw everybody forward in the second half to rescue their campaign but the goal never arrived.
Chile defended superbly after scoring two fine goals and deserved the win every inch. Both Chile and the Netherlands, who had edged out Australia 3-2 earlier in the day, are through to the round of 16 and the pool winners will be decided after their meeting on Monday.
Spain’s exit signalled the end of an era and a style. The Spaniards had won the European Championship in 2008 and 2012 as well as the previous edition of the World Cup with tiki-taka football which was all about moving the ball around with crisp passes. Possession was the cornerstone of the style. The slide of Spain started last year when they lost to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final and the confirmation arrived in the cauldron of the Maracana.
