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FIFA World Cup: It's all over for the defending champions Spain

In their crucial second match on Wednesday, defending champions Spain lost to Chile 2-0 in the jam-packed Maracana stadium in Brazil. With their second consecutive loss in the World Cup 2014, Spain`s quest to win their second title in a row, is all but over.

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai
New Delhi: In their crucial second match on Wednesday, defending champions Spain lost to Chile 2-0 in the jam-packed Maracana stadium in Brazil. With their second consecutive loss in the World Cup 2014, Spain`s quest to win their second title in a row, is all but over. With this, Spain have joined Brazil (1966), France (2002) and Italy (2010) in the list of defending champions to have fallen in the group stages of the World Cup. PIC Galleries FIFA 2014: Netherlands beat Australia 3-2, Match 18 » FIFA 2014: Chile beat Spain 2-0, Match 19 » FIFA 2014: Croatia beat Cameroon 4-0, Match 20 » Match Reports: FIFA 2014: Netherlands beat Australia 3-2, Match 18» FIFA 2014: Chile beat Spain 2-0, Match 19 » FIFA 2014: Croatia beat Cameroon 4-0, Match 20 » It seems as if Spanish players didn’t recover from the 5-1 thrashing they received from the Netherlands in their opening match of the tournament. And their lackluster performance, especially by their defenders, proved costly. In the 20th minute, Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas opened the account for his team. The Valencia player produced a cool finish to beat a trio of Spain defenders after he was allowed to wait in the box following a Sanchez and Charles Aranguiz play. In the 43rd minute of play, Chile won a free-kick in a dangerous area, though Iker Casillas punched the ball but found Arranguiz, who eventually found the back of the net to swell their lead. In the entire match, Spanish strikers failed to convert their half chances as Chilean goalkeeper managed to keep a clean sheet in the match. It’s an irony that the Spanish goalkeeper who won the `Golden Glove` award in the last edition of the Word Cup in South Africa, came out as the major reason behind his country’s flop show in Brazil four years later. His sloppy work in both the matches ended his team`s quest to defend their Word title. However, in the scintillating first match of the day, the Netherlands beat minnows Australia 3-2 to virtually book a second round berth, whereas, Croatia thrashed the 10-man Cameroon 4-0 in the last tie of the day. Second consecutive defeat for Cameroon means they will be in the league of Spain and Australia - the teams, which crashed out of the tournament.