Blame game starts as Spain exit

Spain’s World Cup roller-coaster ride finally ground to a halt on Sunday and the fingerpointing began after their third consecutive failure at a major tournament.

Following humiliation at the hands of the Netherlands in 2014 and a limp defeat to Italy at Euro 2016, this was perhaps the most galling exit of all, given it came at the hands of Russia, ranked 70th in the world.

It would be a stretch to say Russia deserved their win, with 26% possession and only six attempts at goal compared with Spain’s 25, but they had a plan and stuck to it to the bitter end.

A 4-3 victory on penalties, with the score at 1-1 at the end of extra time, sent the hosts through to their first World Cup quarterfinal since 1970.

Spain’s dominance will do nothing to ease the disappointment following what can now be judged as a truly farcical World Cup campaign.

Julen Lopetegui, the coach fired two days before Spain’s opening match, and Luis Rubiales, the Spanish Football Federation president who fired him, will be circled as the key offenders. But Fernando Hierro, Lopetegui’s replacement, and David de Gea, who endured a torrid tournament in goal, will take their share of the blame.

“What started badly, ended badly,” Marca newspaper wrote. “All the problems began with the dismissal of Lopetegui and continued with a team lacking in form and ideas.”

Rubiales was quick to make clear he felt no remorse for sacking Lopetegui.

“Today there is pain, as we have been eliminated. But you can be calm when you know you have acted with responsibility, conviction and values.”

Many would argue it was clear that changing the coach two days before Spain’s opening game was unlikely to benefit the team. –