Remember those days when Spain was untouchable? Unbeatable?

Fast forward to today and the team has won just twice in six tries.The Spaniards experienced their first loss in a qualifying match since 2006 with an underwhelming performance at Slovakia on Thursday.

Here are the reasons the formerly unbeatable side lost a game that they would have easily won last year:

Iker Casillas

San Iker looked like he was reclaiming his form with Real Madrid. He made some tremendous saves for the team in its recent match against Atheltic Bilbao. It was his best performance in years and made fans confident that the calamitous performance of the past World Cup was a thing of the past.

And early on in the game, Casillas looked confident. He made a tremendous reflex save, one of those miracles that has earned him the nickname of the Saint, on Slovakia's first major opportunity.


But then he imploded.

On a free kick, the netminder fumbled a routine save that will surely remind many of Robert Green's big moment in the 2010 World Cup. The ball looked like it was headed right at him, but he dove the wrong way (he shouldn't have moved) and watched it fall right into his net. It was arguably his most embarrassing moment since the mistake he made on the fourth Dutch goal in the now infamous 5-1 defeat.

Later in the game, he dove on a shot that was going wide, conceding a corner in the process. And then, minutes later, he received a pass from his pressured defenseman Gerard Pique. He controlled the ball, but instead of passing it away from the pressured area, he gave it right back to Pique who struggled to clear it.

On the second goal, he failed to cover the near post and looked awkward and uninterested at stopping the goal. Two years ago in the 2012 Euro, he faced a similar sequence and responded with a heroic save to keep Spain from elimination.

Whether or not Casillas starts in the upcoming game against Luxembourg will be interesting. Coach Vicente del Bosque can give him another chance to regain his confidence (but at this point he has seemingly run out of chances) or he can cut the plug on Casillas turn over the starting spot to the more deserving David De Gea.

One-Dimensional Game Plan

A rebuild does not imply new players. It should imply a rehaul of the system, or at least a modification. In the last set of games, the team looked slightly retooled and much improved. Tiki taka is the team's identity, but there was greater directness, urgency and spirit in Spain's attack. Granted, the team was playing a Macedonian side that had no idea how to defend, but there was a lot more confidence from Spain.

In this match, the team went back to slow side-to-side passing. The speed and urgency was lacking, except in some quick flashes early on. It became all too easy for Slovakia to "park the bus" and, for the most part, Spain had no answer.

There were attempts to get Diego Costa involved, but he was hounded by Martin Skrtel.

Spain did create a tremendous amount of chances from corners and setpieces (which could add a dimension to the team), but goalie Matus Kozacik made some terrific saves.

Overall, Spain lacked the dynamism of its previous win and looked lost for ideas on how to take down a disciplined defense. Now even the "minnows" are catching on to how to take down Spain.

Vicente Del Bosque's Poor Subs

The team needed a goal badly. The game was reaching its final moments and it looked as if Slovakia would walk away with an easy win.

So Del Bosque decided to get desperate and subbed out two defenseman (Juanfran and Raul Albiol) in an effort to get more attacking players on the pitch.

The result? He got his goal in the 82nd minute thanks to one of his substitutions.

The problem is that with only Gerard Pique (whose form is pitiful) and Jordi Alba (a wingback who is a great attacker but not great defender) to defend the goal, Spain was as vulnerable as ever. And the team would pay. Slovakia took advantage of a counter and put Spain to the sword with relative ease.

The subs came off as desperate and proved that the manager seemingly has no idea how to get his team to attack with balance.

Positives

There were some positives to be sure. Diego Costa has his best game in a red uniform. His aerial presence was tremendous and he nearly scored twice with his head. He had a five shots (three on target that were stopped by Kozacik) and looked more comfortable with the passing system. His hold up play was terrific throughout the night and there were signs that he was finally syncing with the national side.

Another positive to take away was Paco Alcacer. The young forward scored twice against Macedonia and added the crucial goal in this match as well. He looks comfortable playing in the system and looks primed to be the new "David Villa" for Spain. Imagine if the team can get both Alcacer and Costa working. Then no one would continue questioning whether Spain has problems at the forward position.

If only the rest of the team would improve, as well.

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