Spain starts again at the end of its dream (News Feature)

Bloemfontein, South Africa - The end of records, the end of dreams and an unpleasant trip to play for third place in the Confederations Cup in South Africa: Spain woke up Thursday as an 'earthly' team, after levitating for a year as the 'it' thing of Planet Football. 'It's clear that we are not going to be invincible for life. We do not have to question the players or the coach for the tournament. We have had a most impressive streak of wins,' captain Iker Casillas stressed Thursday. Spain does, however, have a lot to think about. The surprising 2-0 defeat to the United States in the cold night of the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein not only makes Casillas and company travel to Rustenburg to play the game that no one ever wants to play. It also thwarts Spain's confidence and their speedy rise. The world record was left at 15 consecutive wins, and the goal of 36 games without a defeat - to leave behind Brazil and not have to share that record with them - just vanished. Keeper Casillas, like coach Vicente del Bosque, is convinced that what happened late Wednesday was just an accident. In 10 Spain-US games, nine would have shown a different story from the one in Bloemfontein, Casillas claims. 'We would lose one, yesterday's,' he stressed. The two goals that Spain let in - after conceding only 11 in the 35 previous matches - came in 'two strange, absurd moves,' according to Casillas, who could not go into the individual mistakes made by Joan Capdevila and Sergio Ramos in those two goals. 'All the adverse circumstances that did not happen over three years just happened in one night,' he claimed. 'It's not always that the team that plays with the ball and touches it best gets through,' he added. Indeed, the United States, with its fast and vertical play and its all-out defence, managed to defuse the precision mechanism around Xavi Hernandez. Del Bosque knows that if he wants to do something really great in next year's World Cup in South Africa, he needs to get back the midfield, Spain's heart and soul. Andres Iniesta's absence through injury was apparent in the Confederations Cup, although given their weak rivals, Spain managed to score eight goals in the first round without letting in any. 'Three men who were vital at the Euro, (Marcos) Senna, (Andres) Iniesta and (David) Silva himself are not playing now,' Del Bosque told the German Press Agency dpa before the painful defeat. 'We are playing with a different midfield. We have adapted to the players we've had. I still trust that Senna will make it to (the World Cup in) South Africa, but we have players who are ready to take over,' the coach said, after being very impressed with Sergio Busquets' performance in the game against South Africa. But Del Bosque will also have to think hard about his defence. Gradually, he is set to bring in players like new Real Madrid signing Raul Albiol, who watched the game against the United States from the bench. Fortunately for Del Bosque, there do not appear to be many problems in attack, although two world class players like Fernando Torres and David Villa were grossly off target Wednesday. 'The difference was that they scored two goals and we did not manage to convert any of the 10 or 12 chances we had. When you see that the ball won't go in you get frustrated. They have defended with all their might, they have thrown themselves on the floor and they have taken out really clear chances,' Torres said in his analysis of US merits. Capdevila reckons that the game for third place should not be played at all. But Torres disagrees and wants to close off the tournament with a win. 'It is always an honour for me to wear the Spain shirt,' the Liverpool striker stressed. He should also be wearing it from June 11, 2010, when the World Cup in South Africa takes place. And then Spain - who are yet to qualify for the tournament - will stand before history, as they are considered favourites by many besides their own fans. 'You cannot say that there is a hegemony on our part, but it's true that we are among the group of the best,' Del Bosque admitted. Captain Casillas, in turn, sought to lower expectations. 'With the team we have we can do great things, but we can never think of ourselves as favourites. We have to be cautious,' he said.