After a scoreless draw in their World Cup round of 16 match on Tuesday, Spain were eliminated by Morocco in a “cruel” 3-0 penalty shoot-out loss, according to Sergio Busquets.
Yassine Bounou stopped the penalty kick taken by the midfielder, and the 2010 World Cup champions missed all of their penalty kick attempts.
“It was a pity. It was decided on penalties in the most cruel way,” said Busquets.
“It was tough, very hard for us. We tried to wear them down, give them the run-around, and find spaces. We lacked that little luck for the final ball.”
In the semi-finals of Euro 2020, Spain was eliminated by Italy on penalties.
Busquets, 34, was evasive when asked if he planned to keep playing for Spain’s national team.
“Now the most important thing is the national team and not me,” said the Barcelona player.
“It’s a tough night, and we have to pick ourselves up and use this as experience for our game. There are some very young players who this will help a lot.”
Once a hero for Spain in a penalty shoot-out against Switzerland in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, Unai Simon could only save one of Morocco’s shots this time.
“I think in the 120 minutes of the game, we were superior to our opponents, but what I say counts for little now if we can’t find the net,” added Simon, who saved Badr Benoun’s penalty.
“In the shoot-out, they were superior, and that is what took them to the quarter-finals.
“We see that there are surprises throughout the World Cup. We could not overcome them, and we did not expect to be eliminated against Morocco, but it’s the reality, and now we have to go home.”