RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19 — Rio de Janeiro was bathed in red today as Chile and Spain fought an epic World Cup clash that left the underdogs elated and the dethroned champions dejected.

Hanging their heads, Spanish fans rode the metro from Maracana Stadium toward Copacabana beach in silence, surrounded by joyous Chileans celebrating their 2-0 triumph.

“I feel defrauded. This isn’t right. We were champions. The team just didn’t have claws. We just handed it to the Chileans so easily,” said Carlos Romero, a 40-year-old Madrid native who works in insurance in Rio.

He wistfully recalled Spain’s six years of dominance on the world football scene—brought to a crashing halt by a result that sent Chile through to the second round and Spain packing their bags.

“It’s the end of a cycle for us. It’s over,” he said.

Spanish lawyer Javier Alberto Soto, 44, said his team just “didn’t have enough heart.”

“I’m sad, but I’m going to have a drink and party with the Chileans,” said the Madrid native, who now lives in Miami.

A Spanish fan who only wanted to be named as Raul hurried across Rio’s Cinelandia square, fleeing the burgeoning party.

“This was inevitable after the other day,” he said, referring to Spain’s 5-1 humiliation by the Netherlands in their opening match on Friday.

The aging Spanish team needs new talent, said the 36-year-old hotel receptionist, who lives in Britain.

“But I didn’t think there would be so many goals. We’ll see if we can at least win our next match against Australia.”

‘I’m stunned’

Chilean fans, for their part, were seeing a whole other kind of red.

“I’m stunned. For Chile this is unparalleled. It was spectacular,” said Sergio Romero, 33, a sanitation engineer who drove some 3,800km from Iquique in northern Chile.

He said Chile had gotten a big boost from its fans, estimating that 70 per cent of the crowd was Chilean.

“And the Brazilians were rooting for Chile too!”

For Brazilians, who take immense pride in their country’s unmatched five World Cup titles, Spain had started to become a source of resentment in recent years, as the 2010 champions racked up titles and accolades.

It didn’t help that Brazilian-born forward Diego Costa opted to play for his adopted home Spain this year.

Before the match, some Spaniards said they felt they had to keep a low profile in Brazil.

“We’re camouflaged,” joked Ana Rosa Linde as she strolled along Copacabana beach with her family—none of them dressed in Spain’s red jerseys.

Revenge match

The victory was sweet for a country that lost to Spain in the 1950 and 2010 World Cups—not to mention its almost three centuries of Spanish colonial rule.

Patricio Tapia, a 45-year-old copper mine worker, said the match was reminiscent of the Arauco War, in which the Mapuche people fended off Spanish colonization for 300 years in southern Chile.

“The Spanish conquered the Mayas, the Aztecs, the Incas, but they couldn’t win the Arauco War,” he said.

“Just like the Mapuche, we’re fierce on the pitch.” — AFP