Today, July the 29th, the Spanish Olympic football team has lost any mathematical option of qualifying for the next stage due to its defeat against Honduras (0 - 1) and against Japan (0 - 1). This has come as a tremendous surprise because the Spanish national team has just brilliantly won the Eurocup against Italy (4 - 0) in a splendorous and unforgettable match.

There are no excuses for Spain's poor performance in this tournament (it has scored no goals and received two) but it is difficult not to mention the radically different line-up compared to the Eurocup team. Only three players who participated in the Eurocup are playing for the Olymic team: Chelsea's Juan Mata, FC Barcelona's Jordi Alba and Athletic de Bilbao's Javi Martinez. However brilliant Spain's younger players are, they have shown to be still miles away from Xavi, Cesc, Ramos, Pique, Silva, Iniesta and company. The Olympic Spanish football team has played without soul, without passion, without tiki-taka, the virtuoso passing which has made Spain famous all over the world.