The Swiss killed Bambi but Spain's defeat is not the end of the world

Spain were supposed to be the darlings of the tournament. They were the ones, we said, who would provide the 2010 World Cup with its finest exposition of the game's most cherished arts. Their victory would be a triumph for the forces of righteousness, heralding the dawn of football's new age of enlightenment. It was when Andrés Iniesta, one of Spain's squadron of much-admired playmakers, left the field after 76 minutes, shaking his head in dismay. There was pathos, certainly, in the sight of one of the game's true artists being utterly cancelled out, along with the rest of his team, by a group of men who, by comparison, are no more than willing artisans. But should we really be sad about this, or should we accept that football is about more than just pretty patterns?

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