‘Eras end with defeats... and this was a painful defeat’ says Spain’s Alonso

Xabi Alonso admitted that it is the end of an era for Spain after the reigning champions bowed out of the World Cup in ignominy.
Chile's 2-0 victory at the Maracana, following on from Holland's 5-1 rampage last week, saw Spain set an unwelcome record as the only champions to bow out after just two matches of the group stage.
Alonso, Real Madrid's former Liverpool midfielder, said: "Things are going to change. Eras end with defeats... and this was a painful defeat.
Click here to visit The National's World Cup 2014 landing page
"It's a completely unexpected failure but that is sport. These things happen. It was unexpected but we have to take the great sadnesses in the same way as we take the great joys, as men."
Alonso said Spain had failed to keep their hunger for success burning and that a golden era for his generation of Spanish players is now over.
He added: "I believe that we haven't been able to maintain the same levels of conviction, of hunger. The success, the happiness of before is gone, it's run out and we haven't been able to keep it going.
"We've made lots of mistakes, we've lost a bit of our know-how, and we've paid for it with our solidity that had helped us win so many games.
"We've not been able to keep the same levels of ambition and hunger, perhaps the real conviction to go for the championship."
"I think it's a bit of everything. Mentally we weren't ready, physically maybe the same but, putting that all together, we weren't in the best shape.
"Then we have played against teams that were well-prepared and at their peak, and now we're going home.
"It hurts our pride a lot, but this is football. But as I said, we've known how to win and now we have to know how to lose."
Spain's captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had a disastrous tournament with bad mistakes in both matches, was at a loss to explain what had happened.
He said: "We ask people's forgiveness. We are responsible but also the first ones to feel the pain."
The exit was treated as a tragedy in the Spanish media - Madrid sports daily Marca's headline was "The End - a lamentable end to a glorious era for La Roja".
Sergio Ramos, who was part of the triumphs in 2008, 2010 and 2012 along with Alonso and Casillas, disagreed that Spain's problem was one of hunger.
He said: "Evidently we came out to give everything and we cannot forget that every time a player puts on this shirt he wears it with pride and hunger.
"But you cannot live in the past in football and the success of these past years has been down to moving on after winning each trophy. We came here with a lot of hope but we weren't good enough."
The Real Madrid centre-back denied that the team needed to undergo a revamp, however.
"I don't think this is the end of our cycle, that's just looking for excuses, and excuses are for losers," he said.
"I believe in all the footballers here. The day when we didn't win had to come one day and now we have to experience it. We leave with our heads held high, proud of having lived through this glorious period.
We ask everyone to keep believing in this Spain team, after all we've achieved in these last few years, we deserve a little bit of respect."
Andres Iniesta added: "When things don't work out it is never because you don't want to win, because everyone wants to win here, we just weren't up to the task. For me [a lack of hunger] is not the problem we should be looking at. We've scaled the greatest heights and now we are at the lowest ebb."
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE