When the Spanish national team advanced yesterday (Tuesday) to the round of 16 match against Morocco, they knew that since the Euro finals in 2012 they had not won a knockout match in 90 minutes.
Add to that the fact that since the 2010 World Cup in which she won, she has not made it past the round of 16 and you will get a recipe for another sporting disaster.
After a penalty shootout that was horrific for them, "La Roja" was eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar when Luis Enrique and his players will have to do a big soul-searching ahead of Euro 2024 in Germany in a year and a half, when some of them will not be part of the celebration.
"Luis Enrique disappointed even those who were most loyal to him," Marca wrote.
"With the exception of Costa Rica, Spain has been a huge disappointment in this World Cup, more or less since they came back from half time against Germany, who figured out how to cancel it. Since then they have been in a free fall until they crashed against Morocco, who deserve all the compliments."
The media in Spain referred to the fact that Enrique was busy during the tournament with things not related to football, held a video chat with fans and talked about his and his players' sexual relations before games.
"There is more talk about how he eats his eggs, than about why Enso Fati is not playing, or Llorente, or Pablo Sarabia. There is more talk about his bike and Hijon than about what the team lacked when an opponent like Japan made the players panic. The experiment started well , because he humanized the image of a coach who wanted to protect his players. He thought that if he took them away from the focus he would protect them, but the reality is that he prevented them from facing the difficulties."
Luis Enrique: "Next week we will speak and discuss about my future, now it's not the right moment — I'm the one responsible".
🚨🇪🇸 #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/r3tOQDim9z
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 6, 2022
The coach who is expected to finish his job took responsibility and said after the game: "As we know how to win, we also have to learn to lose. Sometimes fate is like that, look at the last game of Serbia. I am very proud of my players. Unfortunately we were eliminated even though we gave 100% ours and we congratulate the team that won, I'm sorry for the fans who supported us. This is not the time to talk about my future, I want to go home first and see my family and my dogs, next week we'll talk when it suits the president of the association."
Sergio Busquets, who is expected to retire from the team after many years of serving it, also analyzed the game and added: "We missed the first three penalties and it is very difficult to win like that. Now the important thing is the team, not whether I continue or not. We have good dynamics and a very good team for the future."
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