SPORTS> Off the Pitch
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SPORTS> Off the Pitch
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Spain's elimination leads to violence and media gloom
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-28 20:01 Disappointment turned to violence in downtown Madrid after Spain lost 3-1 to France and was eliminated from the World Cup, news reports said Wednesday. Municipal police officers reportedly drew truncheons on youngsters who jumped into a fountain at Colon square following a broadcast of Tuesday's second-round game on a giant TV screen which was watched by some 15,000 supporters.
National El Pais said officers had acted indiscriminately, with those attacked including bottle-throwers, people leaving the square peacefully, small children, couples and journalists. People fled hysterically, the newspaper added, and the square was emptied within 10 minutes of the final whistle. Battles reportedly continued between riot police and supporters in nearly streets, with a car burned and street furniture destroyed. Meanwhile, Spain's press attempted to come to terms with the national team's latest flop by employing headlines such as "Broken dreams," "Failure" and "Back home, as always." Most newspapers bemoaned the team's continued failure to improve on its best World Cup placing when it finished fourth in 1950. "The Spain of always," lamented El Pais, saying Luis Aragones' team was "the same which always fails in the top tournaments, a victim of its own misfortune and incapable of beating teams of higher standing." "Not even the quarterfinals" said sports daily Mundo Deportivo, which added "our first serious rival knocked the national team out." However, two Madrid-based sports papers, Marca and As, looked on the bright side on their front pages. "Don't cry. We have a team and we'll be back," Marca said. "It was nice while it lasted," added As. But Marca also said the defeat should spell the end for Spain's veteran coach Luis Aragones, who suffered his first defeat in 26 matches since his appointment in the wake of the team's previous flop in the 2004 European championships. "Luis himself said if he didn't get past the quarterfinals he would go. And we didn't even get to that stage," the paper said. As praised Zinedine Zidane, the scorer of France's third goal which ensured his involvement in the final tournament of his career would continue at least until the quarterfinals. "He delivered the coup de grace, and you can almost say that it was a good death. The last thing we saw while we were still alive in this World Cup was the gallop, the dribble, the shot by Zidane," the paper said in its editorial. |
