Last update 5 April, 2024 por Alberto Llopis
It happened to France in 2002, to Italy in 2010, even the powerful two-time champion Brazil in 1966. It is the law of life, just like people are born, grows reproduces and dies, nothing and nobody is eternal and Spain (one of the best selections ever) it is not an exception either. You could say that it is even normal, that when hunger is satisfied everything ends.
You could talk about tiredness, mental fragility, nerves, tactical weakness, of older players. Arguments all of them true and even valid but it would be not to recognize what the cycle of life is. They say that the bigger a team is, the bigger its fall and that of Spain has been enormous..
Chile, as Holland seemed much better selections, infinitely better. Any slow Spanish player, lacking in technique and character. Ramos seemed like a slow and clumsy center-back. Casillas an insecure goalkeeper. Xabi Alonso an inexhaustible source of losing balls. Busquets a football finish. Diego Costa, a player without a goal, Azpilizcueta a right back very far from the height of Arbeloa. Could be individualized, but it would be a serious mistake. They are all good players, exceptional, magnificent.
The problem is that you can't win forever, no one did or will. Soccer is a game, and one of the most faithful reflections of life. And in this, everyone ends up dying, losing. No one stays to dress saints. Neither Spain nor its Saint. Because? Simplemente, because it is the law of life. Like everything.
It will now be time to regenerate the team, change his face and face a necessary generational change. Who will leave? It is not known, starting with the coach. Villa points out that he will no longer be. Neither did Xavi, Xabi Alonso, or even the trio of goalkeepers Casillas-Reina, Valdes. It will be difficult to see Fernando Torres again. Iniesta may not play any more World Cups. It is the price of time and the passing of the years.