Spain: Success may have faded but greatness remains

Spain: Hands on heads

‘The End’, it read in English on the front cover of Spanish newspaper, MARCA. The image shown was Andres Iniesta walking alone. That was it.

It wasn’t the defeat that resulted in the ‘end of an era’; it was how that defeat came about. It’s safe to say that a lot of the squad have aged; Iker Casillas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, David Villa, Andres Iniesta.

Yet the most awful truth isn’t that they’re the defending champions and they’re out, the awful truth here is, they’re more than just defending champions and they’re out.

A team that was built to last a generation and in many ways lived up by winning in 2008, 2010 and 2012 partook in a silent walk from the dressing rooms of the Maracana to the doors.

They looked at the floor, they had headphones on and they walked. Not hastily. Just enough.

A lot will change and the lot will change. Experiences will be recalled, images will flow yet the unseemly sight of an avoidable loss will linger stronger than anything else.

Asked if whether this was his last game, Casillas responded, “I don’t know, we’ll see.” This is the same goalkeeper who first carried all of the major trophies for his country and in all of them, looked the most jubilant. His expression post this game was nothing but otherwise.

"The joy and success we've experienced is over," said Xabi Alonso gracefully nodding while the words came out. He looked exhausted.

Some of the others mumbled softly as they walked by. Their expressions spoke loud enough.

Some of the greatest teams of the past haven’t had the greatest of endings. They have ended and they have faded but they’re still great.

The very thought of playing football at the Maracana brings back memories of the great Brazilian teams. The likes of Cafu, Zico and Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

They are but a memory now. It is such memories that anyone would recall. Brazil haven’t forgotten, why should they? They were at their peak and that prestige carried them for years.

Yet when one such team played, the atmosphere at the Maracana was unlike anything we’ve seen it in; not silence but the daunting cheers of surprise.

There was an eerie sense that both sets of fans hadn’t the slightest of clues of an impending historic result.

Spain’s popular newspaper Marca with a powerful cover

Spain have provided the complete spectacle of what beautiful football is. They painted every game and knew all the strokes. They struck; they struck quick and they calmed down.

They’ve lit up matches at the easiest of initiations and they’ve proven to be unstoppable when they do but yesterday saw them challenge – not the opponents – but themselves.

Chile played well. Netherlands played well. Spain also played well but they didn’t play the same. The passing hasn’t stopped, the runs haven’t stopped but what has is the way they’ve done it all.

The ‘soul’ of the team no longer joins them. They look tired, it’s possibly the age or that after so much success, you tend to look beyond it. Beyond the satisfaction and achievement, you look at humility. We saw a lot of that yesterday.

None of them partook in anything unsportsmanlike. None of them spoke of anything that would hurt someone. None of them weren’t themselves.

Hats off to the Spanish team for achieving everything they have. They’ve set a bar so high, very few can keep up, forget replicate. And that is the biggest sign of a great team; leaving nothing behind.

And now they might just reassess. Start with the youth and build another great team. They now know how and they’re more than capable of.

We may have seen the last of Vincent Del Bosque at Spain and he admitted that. Yet, after all that has unfurled, he will still walk out with the same serenity that dons his face. He’s one for the history books; just like his team.