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Diego Maradona lashed out at the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas after his horror show against Netherlands by saying that Jose Mourinho was right in benching him at Real Madrid. He also said that tiki-taka style of play is dead as its shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed by the formidable Dutch attack.
The defending champions were humiliated by the Dutch to a 1-5 defeat after a poor showing by Casillas who was responsible for two penultimate Dutch goals. It also brought out the failure of Spain’s tiki-taka as the Spanish team was not able to edge out the Dutch despite having possession.
The 53-year old Argentina great said, "Casillas had the worst game I've ever seen in my life and it reminds me of what my friend Mourinho told everyone about him."
"He said Casillas wasn't the right keeper and he paid for that. He had to leave, but in the end it turns out that Mourinho was right," he added.
Initially, Spanish icon Casillas was benched by Jose Mourinho during his time at Real Madrid as he was of the opinion that the Spanish icon was past his best. Even under Carlos Ancelotti, Casillas was not able to make the cut to the first team ahead of Diego Lopez though he just played in the Cup competitions. But Spanish boss Vicente del Bosque preferred to stick with Casillas in his first team sheet for the national side and he paid the price as the Spain captain had a bad day against the Netherlands.
Also, Maradona accused del Bosque of not changing his style despite its failure in the club level as Barcelona finished a trophy barren season. Maradona continued, " He[Vicente del Bosque] should have kept in mind that clubs in Europe have found an answer to Barcelona's style, which is very similar to what their national team plays. A fast-paced policy based on counterattacks has worked well against them. Spain have refused to change despite critics repeatedly pointing out that their style has been exposed."
After a suffering a heavy defeat to Netherlands in their opening fixture, Spain is set to face an in-form Chile in their next group game on June 18.
