The first team to win three straight major tournaments. The first European side to win the World Cup outside of Europe. One of just three World Cup Champions to not concede more than two goals in a tournament. A run of 10 knockout games without conceding a goal. The lowest scoring World Cup champion ever. Six unprecedented years of success.

That was the Spanish legend from 2008-12. A team that went from being hated by its own fans to one revered like Gods. The expectations heading into Brazil this summer could not be higher for La Furia Roja. Everyone was so used to winning that it seemed almost a given that they would stomp out with a fourth championship in Brazil. Maybe their last bit of history would be to be the first ever to win four straight major tournaments and be Europe's first side to conquer South America.

But it was not to be. Spain continued to make records over the course of the week, but not the kind expected. The 5-1 mauling at the hands of the Netherlands was the worst ever defeat by a reigning World Cup champion. The ensuing 2-0 loss against Chile clinched another record making Spain the first ever defending Champion to not only lose two consecutive games, but to be eliminated in the second game. And in doing so, Spain joined an exclusive group of past champions that failed to get out of the group stage; Spain became the fifth such defending champ.

The players have all taken the beating with dignity. Early media reports have major players acknowledging that they were simply not ready or not good enough. Coach Vicente del Bosque stated that the elimination was deserved.

But while the high lasted for six years, the low came swiftly over the course of just six days. It marked the end of an era.

So what went wrong for arguably the greatest team in the world?

Back in the Spring of 2013, Barcelona received a 7-0 hiding at the hands of Bayern Munich; a defeat that showcased Barcelona being annihilated by a strong side that played physically and with tremendous speed and pace. The play of Bayern Munich contrasted heavily with that of Los Cules. The Spanish side played with slow deliberate passing that funneled most of the play through the middle. It had taken Barcelona far over the years and had made the club and national team extremely successful. The team did lose, but the losses were always by slight margins, nothing too wide to cause concern. But the defeat against Bayern Munich was the kind of statement that was heard around the world. "Tiki taka is dead" was a line that became quite quotable throughout. "Tiki taka has been exposed" was another variation on that same theme. For purists and supports, that kind of assertion was denied. This was an aberration. Barcelona was too good. This is never going to happen again.

But it did. And only two months later. It was June 30 and Spain was contesting the final of the Confederations Cup with Brazil at the famous Maracana. Spain had just come out of a draining semifinal against Italy in which had looked vulnerable at times. But the team managed, as it had always done over its six-year run, to find a way to win. And so it entered the contest with a chance to grab the only trophy (albeit a minor one) that it had not been able to obtain during its golden period. But within one minute, the dream was over. Spain was disorganized at the back and conceded right away to an energized Brazilian side. After that, Spain spent its ensuing 89 minutes attempt to play its possession style. But it failed to so for large periods of time because Brazil pressed incessantly in the midfield and disrupted Xavi and Andres Iniesta's slick passing game. Xavi, 33, was already looking like a shadow of his former genius self, but most believed that brains could overcome any physical ailments. In the end Spain lost 3-0 and the destruction of Barcelona from two months earlier resounded. Was this really the end of the era?

Some writers, this one included, looked for reasons to justify the collapse. The team did not play with its 4-2-3-1 setup. Brazil had more rest. The climate. It was only the Confederations Cup. But that was only a minor respite from what would eventually happen.

Spain qualified decently in the winter months and even a 1-0 loss against South Africa did little to cause concern.

But then Spain showed up at the World Cup and everything changed. The game against the Dutch did not go poorly at first. Spain looked confident and kept the ball well. There seemed to be an added urgency in the passing. A seeming intent on getting the ball to Diego Costa as soon as possible. It worked at times and it failed at others. But never did Spain seem like it was chasing the game. Then the team got an early 1-0 lead (something that ironically never happened with this team during the last four years) and everything seemed to be in place. But it all went to hell. David Silva missed a golden chance at one end and then Robin van Persie scored a wonder goal that he has probably never scored in his life and never will again. And then tiki taka fell apart. The team gave up four goals in the second half and looked uncomfortable with the ball. 

After that stunning defeat the world took a collective gasp but some refused to abandon faith. It could not get worse than this. This must certainly be an abberation, just like the 7-0 Barcelona loss to Bayern Munich and the 3-0 loss against Brazil. But it truly was the end.

Even though Spain knew that it had to play finals the rest of the way, the team inexplicably came out completely disorganized against Chile. The perennial world beaters looked uncomfortable with the ball and failed to really establish any sort of play. They flopped in the worst possible way. 

One could claim that this officially emphasized the end of tiki taka, but one could also claim that this was probably not really tiki taka at all. Spain passed the ball, but there was a seeming urgency that lacked the patience of prior and more successful iterations. The ball movement was more direct which was a double-edged sword. It caught defenses off guard slightly, but it also made Spain increasingly more predictable and easy to contain. The speed of the game for Spain meant less control and made the squad more susceptible to the counterattacks that would eventually prove its undoing. Decisions were made rather hastily and the end result was far from smooth or cohesive. Just take Xabi Alonso's ill-conceived pass that led to the opening Chile goal. He intended to get it back to his defenders but he was under pressure and instead of pushing it toward the sideline and out (he was standing on the sideline), he tried to pass it to a teammate that was also being hounded by a Chilean and the ball eventually wound up in his net. Against Chile, Spain tried to implement a quicker rhythm in the passing, but was constantly stifled by a high-pressing game from the South American contingent.

Ironically, it was this high pressing that had been a major element of Spain that was no longer present in this tournament. In fact, that high pressing has not been a fixture of Spain or Barcelona's game since the fall of 2012. Once Spain lost the ball, the team trotted toward the opponent but rarely made it hard for them to get it to a teammate.

A lot of this could come down to fitness which, by extension, brings up the other major reason why Spain died so quickly in this tournament -- age.

When Vicente del Bosque elected to bring back 16 of the 23 players that won the Cup four years ago, he was heavily criticized. With such young talents as Isco, Alvaro Morata, Alberto Moreno, Gerard Deulofeu, Asier Illarramendi and even more experienced players in top form like Raul Garcia and Diego Lopez, he had a plethora of players to choose from. Obviously he would have been criticized for dropping other luminaries, but his job was to pick the best possible players. Maybe it was a matter of loyalty and giving the 2010 winners a chance to retain the trophy that THEY had won. But it also meant bringing back a team of many 30-year-olds, some of them past their peaks.

Exhibit A is Iker Casillas, or San Iker as he has been known for years. The Captain entered the tournament with a chance to break the record for most minutes without conceding a goal in a World Cup. He conceded five in the first game and many were his own fault. His mistake in the Champions League has been talked about incessantly, but that first game proved that it was not a flash in the pan, no fluke, no aberration. Casillas really was that bad. Jose Mourinho had been right all along. Of the seven goals Spain conceded through the first two games, at least three were on Casillas, maybe even four or five.

Exhibit B is Xavi, the symbol of Spain and Barcelona's passing game. At 34, he is well past his prime for about two or three years. He was great in the 2012 Euro but was showing signs of deterioration as early as March 2013. He was dismal against the Dutch and disappeared altogether in the second half. His influence and passing intellect had ceased to exist. 

Exhibit C would be 32-year-old Xabi Alonso who also had horrific tournament. The man who had made Real Madrid click throughout the 2013-14 season could not string together a series of good passes. He was at fault for Chile's opening goal and his defensive prowess was nowhere to be seen. His poor game was the reason that Del Bosque's famed double pivot did not work.

Exhibit D is the most inexplicable of all. When Fernando Torres was picked to be among Spain's 23, the entire world shuddered. How could a 30-year-old who only had six goals in the Premier League for a top team like Chelsea be on Spain's title defense squad? But what was more appalling was that he was being called on during games to give his team an offensive boost. Unsurprisingly he made no impact on the team.

But it all goes back to Del Bosque and his loyalty to his players. He brought these players to Brazil in hopes of winning the Cup with them, even though he probably knew they were past their primes. And while his decision making prior to the tournament was appalling, it only got worse for a man who usually gets everything right.

Diego Costa had been a topic of contention for months with many wondering whether he would suit the passing system. Was he even physically fit to do the job? Those questioned were answered in the opening game when the Brazilian-turned-Spanish international failed miserably against Holland. He earned a controversial penalty, but did little otherwise. Why Del Bosque opted for giving him a second chance is remarkably baffling. While Costa had more impact in this match, he was far from the answer. That Spain's all-time greatest goal scorer David Villa (a 32-year-old who had been the hero of the 2010 Championship Run) was not allowed a single minute through the first two games is all the more shocking.

Ultimately bad decisions by Del Bosque coupled with age and a style of soccer that was either outdated or simply poorly executed turned out to be Spain's undoing.

All good things come to an end in one way or another. And in an arena as ever-changing and fickle as sports, winners of yesterday become the losers of today. Spain had gone from being reviled by its own country to being heroes of legend. Now they have come back to earth as mere mortals capable of feeling the pain of defeat. But like all those that are fallen, it is time to get up. Time to rebuild. The show has ended. The curtain has come down. But there will certainly be a new show with a new cast tomorrow. And maybe, that one can be just as memorable as the previous one.