Santi Cazorla played the final 14 minutes of Spain’s 2-0 defeat to Chile on Wednesday night as the reigning champions crashed out of the World Cup.
Vicente del Bosque’s side needed at least a draw to keep their hopes of retaining the trophy alive, but fell behind in the 19th minute when Eduardo Vargas fired in after a fine passing move.
Spain were nowhere near their dominant best, and a mistake by goalkeeper Iker Casillas just before half time gifted a goal to Charles Aranguiz to double Chile’s lead.
Cazorla came off the bench in the 76th minute to add some much-needed energy to the Spanish attack, and went close with a curling effort that was tipped around the post by Claudio Bravo.
The Arsenal midfielder also had a fizzing free kick palmed around the post by the Chile keeper late on, but could not inspire a late comeback as Del Bosque’s side surprisingly exited the World Cup at the group stage.
Spain’s final match is against Australia on June 23.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
