Spain vs. Chile: Twitter Erupts With Reactions After 'Devastating Spanish Exit'
The defending champions are out. A new winner for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will soon emerge as Spain was unceremoniously booted out through back-to-back losses in Group B.
The opening match against The Netherlands was a rematch of the 2010 final and the Dutch side was able to exact a crushing revenge with the match finishing at 5-1 in favor of the Oranje. Spain had time to regroup between matches and hopes were high that a win against Chile could bring the champions back into the competition. This did not happen as Chile had other ideas.
The South Americans had a clear chance to attack almost as soon as the whistle was blown for kickoff and it never looked good for Spain. The match ended 2-0 with the Spaniards well and truly out following in the footsteps of other World Cup title holders France (2002) and Italy (2006), who didn't make it out of the group stage while attempting their defense.
Lamentations poured in as fans expressed their dismay on twitter:
Bet King Juan Carlos thought it would only be his reign that came to an end today in Spain. #Spainvschile #bbcworldcup
— Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) June 18, 2014
Still can't believe Spain is out. How is that even possible. How is it possible for Xabi Alonso and Iniesta to have a bad game? — Freny (@frenyy10) June 19, 2014
Hmm so that was a sPAINful match. #Spainvschile — Anand Walunjkar (@anandwalu) June 19, 2014
Diego Costa, a Brazilian-born striker who won the La Liga title with Atletico Madrid this season, was also under fire. He had previously played for Brazil in friendly matches before deciding to suit up for Spain in Brazil. Needless to say, Brazilian fans were not happy with him as evidenced by the boos he met at the opening game. Fans also took to Twitter criticizing him:
The ghost of Maracanã is actually destroying Spain, probably because they have a Brazilian traitor playing in the team. #ESPvsCHI — Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) June 18, 2014
Diego Costa’s original passport didn’t die for this. — Iain Macintosh (@iainmacintosh) June 18, 2014
Diego Costa: the rat that joined a sinking ship — Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) June 18, 2014
Other fans opted to make fun of the situation and used humor to at least get a few laughs out of the tragic exit of the defending champions.
Spain are blaming their loss this evening on the weather. Apparently it was 2 Chile. href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Spainvschile&src=hash">#Spainvschile — Vickyy (@vicknesh15) June 19, 2014
Not everybody was disappointed. Naturally, Chile also had supporters and there were several happy campers expressing their delight.
Red Hot Chile peppers!! #Spainvschile — Aditya Gangrade (@adi_gangrade) June 19, 2014
As expected, netizens were also quick to express their own theories and solutions on what the Spanish team could have done to avert this tragedy.
first mistake , taking Pique and Xavi out — 1972 (@vsvpstunna) June 19, 2014
Del Bosque biggest mistake is taking Torres to Brazil and not Negredo. David villa need to start the last game — Lim Jin Fu (@Verminator_5) June 19, 2014
In the end, what's done was done and Spain was out. There are three more weeks left in the World Cup and a new champion will be crowned as the whole world watches in anticipation.