Pablo Sarabia couldn’t hold back the tears. Sergio Busquets looked anguished. Alvaro Morata stared blankly at the ground, head bowed and red eyes.
And then there was Rodri who, long after many of his Spanish teammates had retreated to the relative sanctuary of the dressing room, stood there alone with his thoughts, trying to calculate what had happened, the occasional pat on the back and a hug from an official who brought no comfort or solace as the Moroccan celebrations rang in his ears and pierced his senses.
Spain has been eliminated from a major tournament on penalties. again, and the Manchester City midfielder looked like a man who will need weeks, maybe even months, to get over this disappointment.
It’s been more than a year since Luis Enrique told his Spanish players “they had homework to do” and set a goal for each of them to practice at least 1,000 penalties before the World Cup arrives.
Like an errant schoolboy hoping to pass his exams, they may have ignored their teacher’s instructions and thought they would be fine that night.
How else to explain the limpness of those three missed penalties, which were as feeble and jittery in their execution as Japan’s 24 hours earlier against Croatia.
A player born in Madrid and someone who practices his profession at Sevilla were the heroes of the shoot-out. Unfortunately for Spain, Achraf Hakimi and Yassine Bounou wore the red from Morocco. After that 7-0 opening thump from Costa Rica, it was a slow slide and lots of sideways passes towards the exit to Spain.