Spanish press mourns World Cup elimination

Rio de Janeiro, June 19 (IANS/EFE) Spanish newspapers reacted to the shocking elimination of their football team from the FIFA World Cup, following Spain's 0-2 loss to Chile at the Maracana Stadium on Wednesday.

"Spain, the party's over," the Marca newspaper's headline said, adding that the defending champions bid a sad farewell to the World Cup with a poor performance.

"Spain's reign of international dominance ended with a dramatic thud as Chile hammered the 2010 champions," added the newspaper.

The headline of AS said: "Spain bow out; it's all over, but it was fun while it lasted."

The newspaper added that Spain weren't able to bounce back, making them one of the first teams to get an early exit from the tournament.

"As endings go, this was a particularly horrible one. But we knew that it had to come some day. Nevertheless, we could never have imagined it would be so pitiful and the Spain side so unrecognisable and ordinary looking."

El Pais described the Spanish team as the "Titanic" which has tragically drowned, missing a chance of defending their title.

The headline of Catalan newspaper Sport read: "Historical exit for Spain" while El Mundo Deportivo said: "2-0: Spain is dismissed by the back door."

--IANS/EFE

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