Spain vs. Chile, 2014 World Cup: Defending champions eliminated

So, too, the mortality of the players. When Jose Mourinho dropped Iker Casillas to the Real Madrid bench it was seen as an act of political grandstanding, as Mourinho being Mourinho. But he was right, as he so often is. And when he said that this season’s Barcelona — Xavi’s Barcelona — was the worst for many years, he was right as well. As my colleague Graham MacAree points out in his own analysis of yesterday’s game, Xavi is — no, hang on, was — “perhaps the only midfielder on Earth with the combination of legs, technical ability and vision to ensure that Guardiola’s vision clicked into place.” With him losing his edge and then his place, the passing carousel stutters, the wooden horses jerk and stall, and gangs of Chileans and Dutch youths are able to charge in and set fire to the whole thing.

Or perhaps the key lies with Diego Costa (who, if Brazil go out through lack of firepower, might go down in history as the man who ruined the World Cup for two nations). The naturalised-Brazilian was the focal point of the best team in Spain last season, but they were a team that played a radically different kind of football, one built on reactivity and the counter-attack. The great blessing of this Spain side has been the core of Barcelona players, able to translate their club relationship smoothly over to the international stage. Costa, for all that he’d earned his place on merit, disrupted that harmony, and would likely have done so even had he been fully fit.

Sorry ref, but this handshake was for goalies only:

It’s okay, because the recovery was SUAVE AS HELL. Like 100 times suaver than Phil Jackson and Tom Brady:

“Can we still play like we used to with an aging core? What happens if we can’t?”

For me, the answer is simple enough: the spine of this team has been shattered by age.

Spain won the 2010 World Cup, and after two lopsided losses in two games, they’re the first team eliminated from the 2014 World Cup. We could analyze this and compare them with past poor performances by defending champs, like France in 2002, or we could just show you the latest World Cup superstar:

We added more images:

Whoever could have envisioned the end of Spain’s era of dominance would not have imagined a dethroning so brutal or a surrender so tame as this. La furia roja have won their last three international tournaments, but the current champions are now the first team to exit the tournament as Chile produced a brilliant display to earn a well-deserved 2-0 victory.

Spain became frustrated as the first half progressed, and their frustration soon got a lot worse as Chile made it 2-0, with poor goalkeeping from Iker Casillas again responsible as Charles Aránguiz drilled in Chile’s second.

All he had to do was side-foot it in to an empty net. The ball isn’t even bouncing. It’s just sitting up perfectly for him. If it happened in the middle of the pitch, Busquets would have made a perfect pass to a teammate, but in front of the goal, he choked. It’s still 2-0 Chile.

Alonso’s always been an odd fit in Spain’s midfield -- he’s a completely unnecessary player in a midfield that includes Sergio Busquets and an advanced playmaker -- but they’ve won titles with him starting because they’ve simply had the most talented side. But talent alone doesn’t carry them anymore, and this switch is a positive one. Especially given that Alonso picked up a yellow card in the first half, could have had another and gave the ball away a few times.

Koke is a different kind of player to Alonso and should provide a spark. While Alonso sits deep without actually doing any defending, Koke is much more energetic. He’ll work harder defensively and has a knack for scoring goals from midfield.

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That’s Alexis Sanchez -- the guy who played the great pass before the assist on the first goal -- with the free kick. So it’s the same guys involved in every big play, and Spain have no idea what to do about it.

That assist by Charles Aranguiz. That pass before the assist by Alexis Sanchez. Amazing goal.

I WILL SCREAM THE SONG OF MY PEOPLE.

And here’s everyone singing the anthem after FIFA shut it off. It was amazing.

At some point, they figured out that it would be really easy to get by the small handful of stewards and no cops to get into the place.

Once they got there, they found some glass doors, which, lol. Okay.

Spain starting lineup (4-3-3): Iker Casillas; Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martínez, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta; Pedro, David Silva, Diego Costa.

Based on Iker Casillas’ terrible performance in the first game, Spain might have been willing to make a change in goal, but they don’t have other options. David De Gea is out for the group stage and Pepe Reina has a minor injury too, so Casillas is likely to continue.

Concerns linger about the fitness of Chile superstar Arturo Vidal, but he played 60 minutes in their opener without major incident, so he should play again. He didn’t look like the best version of himself, though, and Chile will be hoping that another few days of rehab will lead to him being ready to face Spain.