Portugal 4-0 Spain

I´ve been meaning to get to this more than interesting mess, this debacle of all debacles for a few days now, and it seemed like the right time. I figured a few days max and I could come out of my shell and write about the utter disappointment this was.

Xavi looked like the swivel that his lower extremities seem at times to be sitting on wasn´t working effectively; his turn wasn´t as ¨turny¨ as usual. Iniesta disappeared, and when you´re pale enough to do so naturally, then this accounts for it I guess. Worse was the defense; Pique continued his reckless challenges, a step too slow it seems for someone so young, Puyol caught out from covering for his Barcelona team-mate and Busquets, well let´s not talk about Busquets. I´d get even madder if I talked about Busquets. This was such a disappointing match. How can they call themselves world champions if they can´t beat Cristiano Ronaldo´s Portugal?

Does this sound sincere? It´s not. We heard the same sorts of calls from reporters after the 4-1 drubbing by Lionel Messi´s Argentina in September played at the Monumental in Buenos Aires and a month earlier when they played in Mexico City at the Azteca in front of 100,000 fans and were lucky to escape with a 1-1 draw. These are international friendlies. Exhibitions, people. Playground games. No better than playground matches in my opinion. Sure, there are plenty of people who think that when Spain play they should win every-time. I´m not. Wake me up when the qualifiers start in earnest.

Or do you think that the class that Spain have on their side just magically disappeared, David Villa just decided to take a break? Isn´t he thinking about this week´s Almeria match and next week´s clásico rather than the sort of manufactured rivalry that exists between Portugal and Spain? I would hope so if I were Pep Guardiola. Isn´t this ultimately the same squad for the most part that bowed out to Spain in the last World Cup? Wasn´t the gap in quality apparent then and how is that match less important overall? 

This is just another example as to the lack of perspective we find, not merely in the twitter-verse where every goal is the best goal ever and every win the most magical night for so and so in the history of football, but in the press-rooms where they should know better.

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