Spain out of the Olympics

It is a debacle. The disappointment can be measured by the column inches on As and Marca alone. They didn't want it enough, weren't motivated enough to continue the dominance that other Spanish sides have maintained over the last four years, they were spoiled by all the success, or we could use a thousand other excuses that people are writing about as we speak.

What you can talk about are truths. Four integral members of this Olympic side were involved in no small part with the Euro squad last month; fatigue was a problem. Injuries in the midfield took out some key members, but no one was more important than Thiago Alcantara. The young Barça prospect is the heir apparent to Xavi Hernandez for both club and country and nowhere was it most evident than in this tournament. Juan Mata, Isco and Iker Muniain are great players but they are not the sort of deep-lying play-maker that links, distributes and begins attacks. Sure they could have gotten more out of their defensive set-up to nullify set-pieces and corners, but the blame should decidedly be placed squarely on coaching. Luis Milla is a solid organizer but he's no Luis Aragones or Vicente del Bosque.

Could they have gotten a few more calls, at least one penalty in each of their 1-0 losses, sure, but that's no excuse to dwell on. You can blame the referees, or the negative play by their more motivated opponents, but they had their opportunities and did not capitalize on them. They can only blame themselves for their attitude, their motivation and their approach to a competition they were more than qualified of winning.

Then again, we are talking about a tournament that has been won by Argentina twice, Cameroon and Nigeria as well, since the historic 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Germany and Italy have only won once, and one that the mighty Brazil have never won, so this is no statement. The era of Spanish dominance may come yet, but don't put this mark on these players and this coaching staff.