Spain 0-2 Chile: The Bulls were eliminated early
Spain could not recover from the humiliating defeat to the Netherlands. They even played worse in the 0-2 loss to Chile this morning. The reigning world champions La Roja have become former champions!
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| Defending champion Spain was eliminated in the group stage. |
GOAL
Chile: E. Vargas (20'), C. Aranguiz (43')
Many promises from coach Del Bosque and his team, many expectations from fans and many changes expected to help Spain regain its image appeared before this match. But no, nothing happened. It is true that coach Del Bosque changed some of the links, when leaving Pique and Xavi on the bench and letting Javi Martinez and Pedro start. But Spain's deadlocked play and dispirited spirit remained the same.
Spain should have conceded a goal in the opening minutes of the match. Spain's sleepy defense allowed Eduardo Vargas and Gonzalo Jara to shoot comfortably in the penalty area, but they missed the target.
La Roja not only deployed a deadlocked style of play, defending superficially, but also wasted opportunities. Alonso and Costa continuously had a series of very good finishing opportunities in the penalty area, but perhaps the fear of being eliminated and lack of desire caused those opportunities to slip through their shoes, in particular the situation where Alonso finished in a one-on-one situation with the Chilean goalkeeper in the 15th minute.
La Roja's defensive sloppiness allowed Chile, despite not attacking too strongly, to score two goals quite easily. In the 20th minute, just three Chilean players simply coordinated with each other to penetrate the Spanish defense. This situation ended with Charles Arynguiz passing the ball to Vargas in the penalty area, before the Valencia striker dribbled past Casillas to put the ball into an empty net.
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| Aranguiz's hero with 1 goal and 1 assist |
After the opening goal, Chile continued to play cautiously, but Spain continued to create opportunities for them to score a second goal. In the 43rd minute, from a direct free kick by Sanchez, Casillas pushed the ball right into Arynguiz's feet and the midfielder quickly finished with the toe of his shoe, forcing poor Casillas to go back into the net to pick up the ball.
Spain had a chance to overcome the difficulties. But for some reason, the Spanish superstars could not score at the right opportunities. After a few missed chances in the first half, they continued to miss the best chances at the beginning of the second half. Diego Costa is sharp and strong for Atletico, but this morning he was very slow and clumsy in a face-to-face situation with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the 49th minute. In the 53rd minute, Busquets tapped the ball from close range and when the goal was almost empty, but somehow sent the ball wide of the post.
Spain almost surrendered to fate after missing many golden opportunities. They were just red shirts wandering on the field. If they were unlucky, Spain could have conceded another goal in the end of the second half.
However, the 0-2 defeat was too much for La Roja. The reigning world champions were officially eliminated after only 2 group stage matches, becoming the former champion. The result of this match also helped the situation of Group B almost come to an end, with the 2 tickets to the next round belonging to the Netherlands and Chile. Spain and Australia will go home early.
LINEUP
Spain: Casillas; Azpilicueta, J.Martinez, Ramos, Alba; Busquets, Alonso (Koke, 46'); Iniesta, Silva, Pedro (Cazorla, 76'); D. Costa (Torres, 64').
Chile: Bravo; Silva, Jara, Medel; Isla, Diaz, Aranguiz (Gutierrez, 64'), Mena; Vidal (Carmona, 88'); Sanchez, Vargas (Valdivia, 85').
