Portugal preys on Spain

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque faced the cameras swiftly after his world champions had been handed an historic trouncing in Lisbon and did not attempt to find excuses for Portugal's 4-0 triumph, the largest margin of defeat inflicted on the national team since Scotland won 6-2 in Madrid in 1963. To find a 4-0 defeat in Spain's history, it is necessary to look back as far as 1942 in Italy.

"We couldn't have played worse," Del Bosque admitted. "We were very slack in the second half. We played too open and they were very effective on the counterattack. It was an important match for us but it wasn't our day."

Neither was it Spain's day in Buenos Aires on September 7, when Argentina scored three in a 35-minute first-half blitz to set up a 4-1 win. Pepe Reina was between the sticks for the first half of that match, with Víctor Valdés conceding the fourth to Sergio Agüero at the last kick of the game.

Del Bosque: "There was a deathly silence in the locker room after the game"

On that occasion Spain was on its second lengthy sojourn to the Americas, after a trip to Mexico less than a month earlier and with La Liga in its infancy.

Portugal's victory is all the more impressive as Del Bosque fielded his strongest side in Lisbon and the home team's coach was taking charge of the national side for just the third time. The match officials played a part in preventing a record-breaking defeat: disallowing a goal after Nani intervened when Cristiano Ronaldo had outfoxed the Spain defense with sublime skill and beaten Iker Casillas with a deft lob. In any case, the ball had clearly crossed the line before Nani applied his head to it.

Casillas, the Spain captain, earned his 116th cap in the match, and incredibly conceded four for the first time in his international career. Nonetheless, Spain is still winning when it matters and tops its qualification group for Euro 2012 with three victories from three matches. Spain's next assignment in Group I is a double-header against the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

"In the locker room [after the match] there was a deathly silence and now we need to engage in some self-criticism," said Del Bosque. "We have to approach next year in a different mood."