Australia 0-3 Spain: Spain sign off on a high note

Fernando Torres of Spain is challenged by Mile Jedinak of Australia. Picture: Getty

Scorers: Spain - Villa (36), Torres (69), Mata (82)

They played in a manner that spoke of the old possibilities, the old certainties, to collect three points that, at the very least, means their already acute humiliation at being dethroned as champions so early in the competition is not compounded by also finishing bottom of their group.

There was little hanging about. The Spanish flight back to Madrid was scheduled to leave at 6pm last night, three hours after the final whistle sounded at the Arena da Baixada. Australia, who depart today, were left in their vapour trail.

Spain are due home shortly before lunch today. There will be no ticker tape welcome for the fallen kings.

But this was a positive reaction to all those who suspected the in-house unhappiness with several aspects of this World Cup (mis)adventure – including the choice of venue for the team base – would be too much for a group of discouraged players to overcome.

However, this view did not take into account the determination of several individuals to leave their own stamp of quality on the proceedings.

David Villa, who marked what could be his last game for the Seleccion, was among those stoked by their own private motivations; Juan Mata, who made his first appearance of the World Cup as a second-half substitute for Villa, was another. Fernando Torres it seems is always proving something to someone. As with Villa and Mata, he also weighed in with a well-taken goal.

• Interview: Juan Mata on the end of Spain’s reign

Although essentially a meaningless match, this still felt significant for a number of reasons. Most obviously, the absence of Xavi left a glaring gap in midfield. The skipper is the player whose mastery of the ball means he is regarded as central to Spain’s quick passing style that has come to be known as Tiki-taka. He was injured and is now expected to announce his international retirement before letting his stellar career drift to a conclusion in Qatar.

But it was also the last opportunity to appreciate the talents of Villa, who many expect will also bring the curtain down on his international career ahead of his new chapter with New York City, via a loan spell at Melbourne City.

If so, he left us with one last flash of his genius with a delightful back-heel flick with his instep for the opening goal. He later left the field in something of an emotional mess when Vicente del Bosque replaced him with Juan Mata early in the second-half.

Strangely, there was no warm greeting on the touchline from the manager. But Mata applauded the player as he made his way off after 56 minutes.

Proving they are no respecters of reputation, nor, also, the heritage of football, many Australian fans, who made up around 80 per cent of the crowd, booed this fine player’s exit. But in the press box, Spanish journalists stood up and applauded.

In the multitude of post-mortems conducted since Spain’s exit last week, the main focus has been on whether they will stick to their principles of possession football. Has this World Cup, where teams have fared best by breaking quickly and being more direct, signalled the end for Spain’s patient build-up play? Whether this is premature, only time will tell.

Koke, who replaced Xavi in the middle of the park, certainly looks capable of carrying the baton. And there will always be a place in the game for footballers like Villa and Mata, whose deft finish at the end was also special.

The defender attempting to shackle Villa was the former Hearts player Ryan McGowan, who on this occasion was probably wise to concentrate on the task in hand rather than seek to enrage watching Hibs fans - if that was what he was doing when he was caught making a 5-1 gesture behind his back in Australia’s last outing against the Netherlands.

McGowan could do little about the piece of magic that saw Villa score Spain’s first goal, after 35 minutes.

Iniesta stroked the killer pass through to Jaunfran, who then picked out Villa, whose movement threw off McGowan, with a cut-back.

The former Hearts defender was then left stranded in the second-half when Spain scored their second goal, after 69 minutes. Iniesta was again the architect when he threaded the ball through for Torres, who slipped a shot past Maty Ryan in the Australian goal. The third, with eight minutes left, was sourced from another artful pass from Jordi Alba.

Mata trapped the ball, dragged it on to his left foot and then squeezed an effort beneath Ryan with his cultured left foot. Perhaps this is not the end so much as a new start.