RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- With its superstars aging and its loyal coach slow to blend in young talent, Spains glorious reign as the superpower of world football was bound to end. The Spanish werent favoured to repeat as World Cup champions. But few expected the utter collapse that ended Wednesday with a 2-0 loss Chile, knocking Spain from contention and ending the run of the greatest team of the century. Chiles pace and skill produced a dominating win similar to so many Spanish victories over the past six years. Spain was outplayed, out-run and out-fought. The 5-1 beating by the Netherlands Friday was shocking and foretold where coach Vicente del Bosques team was heading: Home. "If you think about everything accomplished, and you told me we would be eliminated in group stage, I wouldnt believe you," del Bosque said. "We have no excuses. Its a sad day for all of the players." Six of Spains squad has played at least 100 national team games while winning the 2010 World Cup and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012. "Success is not eternal," said Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli, whose hyperactive energy around the dugout was shared by his team. "This generation could not continue with that success and you can understand it." "Its very special the fact we were able to play today against the World Cup champions the way we did," Sampaoli said, and "eliminate them with courage, intensity and attack." Del Bosque acknowledged that his players were "too slow, timid from the start." Chile twice came close to scoring in the first 90 seconds, and led in the 20th minute when Eduardo Vargas finished a slick move of incisive passing that was truly Spanish in its execution. The second followed in the 43th when Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas punched a free kick to the feet of Charles Aranguiz, who fired a rising shot right back past the veteran captain, who took much of the blame for the loss to the Netherlands. "I only ask fans for forgiveness, we did everything we could," said Casillas. The 33-year-old came to the World Cup after a second straight season as second-choice goalkeeper at Real Madrid and a glaring error in its Champions League final win last month. Spain came to Brazil with a very similar -- but older -- team to the 2010 squad. They added Brazilian-born striker Diego Costa, but he failed to score and was substituted in both matches. Spains "tiki-taka" style of play -- keeping the ball for long stretches with short passes, and only shooting when you had a clear opening -- had not been working as well in recent years. Brazil defeated Spain 3-0 in last summers Confederations Cup final, a warm-up for the World Cup. Spain became the third straight European defending World Cup champion to flop in the group stage. France in 2002 and Italy four years ago also failed to advance, or even win a match. Spain can at least end that streak in a consolation game Monday against Australia. Chile and the Netherlands will play to decide the Group B winner. Both will advance to the final 16 knockout round, but the winner will be seeded higher. Xabi Alonso, another Spanish veteran, will likely not start against Australia. He was replaced with 22-year-old Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke after an agonizing first half. Alonso gave away the ball to Alexis Sanchez to start the move down Chiles right wing by Arturo Vidal and Aranguiz, leading to Vargas score. Trailing behind the play, Alonso put his hands to his head. He was booked before conceding another foul, forcing a free-kick that led to the second goal. And his usual accurate passing was off. Other Spanish players were also guilty of wayward passing and woeful finishing. Early in the second half, potential momentum shifts were lost when Diego Costa was slow on Andres Iniestas threaded pass and Sergio Busquets volleyed wide in front of goal. "We didnt do anything different to what we did in South Africa or the two Euros," said forward Fernando Torres, ineffective as a second-half substitute. "We came with the same mentality, approaching the games the same way." Perhaps the Euro 2012 final was the high point of the era: A 4-0 dismantling of Italy on a similarly balmy evening in Kyiv, Ukraine. Then, the team was joined in locker-room celebrations by Crown Prince Felipe. He could not be in Rio de Janeiro. One hour after the match ended in the Maracana, at midnight in Madrid, he formally became king upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos. On Thursday, Spain will wake up to a new king, but no longer rulers of world football. 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Fielder has been out with a herniated disk in his neck, and surgery was recommended after a follow-up exam and another scan Thursday with Dr. Stitched Mariners Jerseys . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs.MIAMI - LeBron James has learned an important lesson during his journey from 19-year-old rookie to two-time NBA champion: Never talk back to the coach during a film session. "Let him make his point, whether hes right or wrong, and you live with it and move on," James said. Especially when the coach has as much to show his players as Erik Spoelstra did to James and the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Miamis defence didnt offer much resistance early in Game 3 of the NBA Finals; the San Antonio Spurs played like they were on the court by themselves. San Antonio made 19 of its first 21 shots and shot a finals-record 75.8 per cent in the first half of a 111-92 victory. Just like last year, Game 3 was a blowout that left the Heat facing a 2-1 deficit. Miami came back to win the series, so nobody was overreacting to what happened Tuesday, especially since the Spurs themselves dont expect to shoot that way again. But the Heat have things to clean up before Game 4 on Thursday, or they risk going back to San Antonio facing the end of their title reign. "Youre always on edge in the post-season, but I dont want to be concerned at this point," James said. "For us, we have to make the adjustments." The Spurs had the same lead last year after a 113-77 victory in Game 3, a start-to-finish beating that was even more thorough than Tuesdays win. So they were taking no satisfaction in their position, and certainly not comparing it. "I dont think about last year at all at this point," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I dont think about last year Game 3, Game 4, at all. This is a different animal and Im just concerned about the game tomorrow night." The bigger concerns belong to the Heat, whose defence was also sliced up by the Spurs in the fourth quarter of Game 1. So Spoelstra gathered his team to look at the painful tape of Tuesdays performance, which featured among its problems: —Chris Bosh getting only four shot attempts after scoring 18 points in Games 1 and 2. —James trying to do too much to rally the Heat and ending up with seven of their 20 turnovers.dddddddddddd. —Mario Chalmers missing all five shots and falling to 3 for 12 in the finals. "We did not play a good basketball game," Spoelstra said. "All of us have owned that. It doesnt matter ultimately how many you lose by or what the game is like. You have to learn from it, move on." Spoelstra said watching themselves get clobbered on tape was "painful" and "frustrating," but necessary. He wouldnt reveal what he told his players, but whatever it was, James wouldnt have argued. Thats a lesson he said he learned "quite a few years ago, when you realize that it wouldnt change anything." "You know, the coach is always right," James added. "Its like a teacher. Theyre always right, and thats fine. Thats fair. They make the rules and weve got to live by them." Spoelstras process suits the Heat, who have won 13 straight post-season games following a loss. They followed last years Game 3 no-show with a rout of their own to swing the series back in their favour, and are confident they can make corrections before Thursday. But the Spurs, who didnt think they played that well in the first two games, have shown that not even the respected Miami defence can stop them when they execute the way they did Tuesday. "We finally put a game together for not the full 48, but for as long as we could, where we did exactly what we planned to do and executed in that respect," Tim Duncan said, "and thats what were going to need again." No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, and a victory Thursday would guarantee the Spurs two chances to win the series on their home floor, starting with Game 5 on Sunday. Dwyane Wade said the Heat arent thinking that far ahead. "Were an in-the-moment team," he said. "And right now in the moment is the day after a loss, getting better mentally, physically and then coming into tomorrow and playing the game of basketball here on our home floor and trying to win Game 4. That is all we focus on." ' ' '