Luis Enrique asked for a thousand penalties; he got a thousand passes. Spain exited the World Cup early, and in style. There is always something sudden about how it ends, even if it’s been coming, even as you know it could happen.
“All that’s left now is nothing,” Unai Simon said when it was all over. “Just [the need] to assimilate the fact that we’re out, that none of this has brought any reward.” It was late, and it was done. The following morning at 9.28 Spain’s bus pulled out of Qatar University, heading to the airport.
