Spain’s era came to an end at the Maracanã,
graveyard of great expectations.
This was not
1950 and Iker Casillas is not Moacir Barbosa ,
nor is Charles Aránguiz Acides Ghiggia, but it
was historic. The world and double European
champions became the first team to leave the
2014 World Cup, knocked out of a major
tournament for the first time in eight years.
As the second half slipped away, so did Spain’s
vital signs. Casillas, the captain who lifted the
trophy four years ago, wore a haunted look.
Diego Costa, the man Spain had ‘signed’, had
departed to insults, unable to score.
And Xavi,
the ideologue of a philosophy this team
espoused, never even took to the field. There
was symbolism in his absence. He will
probably not be back; Casillas may not be
either. Between them they have 289 caps and
every medal there is.
There was a certain sadness in seeing a golden
generation end it this way, broken and beaten,
but there was joy in being caught up in the
dynamism of a Chile team that may yet make
an even greater impact on this tournament.
There was joy in their fans too.
The Maracanã was packed with Chileans –
there were even more here than there should
have been after some had burst into the
stadium via the media centre – and Chile’s
players attacked the way their fans had: by
stampede. The tone had been set from the
start: there were two chances inside the first
80 seconds and they were good ones, too, for
Eduardo Vargas and Gonzalo Jara.
Spain had anticipated this: they had suffered
often against Chile, even if they had not yet
been beaten by them, and had talked about
the importance of overcoming the first wave of
Chilean pressure, in terms both of position on
the pitch and minute on the clock.
Momentarily it appeared that Spain had
succeeded but then, on 20 minutes, they were
sliced open as if by the sword of Zorro.
Alexis Sánchez, Arturo Vidal and Aránguiz
combined on the right, sprinting forward,
Aránguiz cleverly cut the ball towards Vargas,
who took one touch, to take him away from
the scrambling Casillas, and scored.
It was a
brilliant goal and one that defined Chile: fast,
aggressive, incisive and collective – and
extremely skilful too.
Spain looked lost, slow to the ball, imprecise in
their passing. Andrés Iniesta kept his head
but all around him team-mates were losing
theirs; fouls were committed not so much out
of resistance as impotence. Costa hit the side
netting but there was little else.
Chile would not rest; they could smell blood
and they raced around still, seemingly stuck on
fast forward. But Jorge Sampaoli’s players are
not just intense; they are intelligent too. Every
time Chile ran at Spain, space opened up;
every time Spain approached Chile – it does
not seem right to say ‘ran’ – space was swiftly
closed.
Chile made it 2-0 and to all intents ended the
contest just before half-time. Sánchez was
fouled by Xabi Alonso and took the free-kick
himself. The ball swung towards Casillas, who
chose to punch. If the idea was questionable,
the execution was awful. The ball fell straight
to Aránguiz, who controlled well and toe-
poked it into the net. The abyss opened before
Spain and before their captain in particular.
Andrés Iniesta found Costa near the penalty
spot early in the second halfbut his shot was
closed down and then Jordi Alba shot wide
from distance. Sergio Ramos curled a simple
free-kick that Claudio Bravo, like Casillas
before him, chose to punch. He got away with
it but only just. As the ball went back into the
area, Costa’s overhead kick across the face of
goal found Sergio Busquets but, stretching, he
steered the ball wide from four yards. Any
hope Spain entertained of staging a comeback
deserted them there.
Santi Cazorla, on as a sub, curled wide and
Iniesta’s shot was pushed over by Bravo, who
then saved a Cazorla free-kick. But Spain
knew this was a lost cause, only awaiting the
final whistle, and the best opportunity of a
second half that was played out to backdrop of
Chileans celebrating was actually at the other
end, where Sánchez put his close-range effort
over the bar.
At half-time Spain’s coach, Vicente del Bosque,
had replaced Alonso with Koke. His surname?
Resurrección. There would be none.
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