David Villa featured prominently on several front pages as the Spanish media reported the national team's shock Confederations Cup exit at the hands of the USA in South Africa.
Spain, unbeaten in 35 matches and on a world-record 15-game winning streak, had been overwhelming favourites to beat the USA but goals in either half from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey sent the underdogs through to the final, where they will meet either Brazil or South Africa on Sunday.
For Vicente del Bosque's side, they now have only pride to play for in a third-place play-off before leaving South Africa, and for some Spanish papers the defeat offered the chance to speculate further on the future of Villa, who has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent weeks.
Three of Spain's leading sports papers opted for virtually the same picture of Villa holding his head in his hands, but while AS used it alongside the headline 'How strange it is to lose', in reference to Spain's defeat, Catalan-based El Mundo Deportivo and Sport used it to link the Valencia striker to Barcelona.
Sport's headline on their front page read: 'Villa, straight to Barcelona.'
'The striker was the best player of a Spain side who will not be able to play the 'dream final' (against Brazil). The player is already only thinking of the Blaugrana (Barca) and soon will announce his future.'
Inside, Sport continued the same theme, claiming: 'Villa will come to Barca. His arrival is only a question of time.'
El Mundo Deportivo even relegated Spain's defeat to a small section at the bottom of their front page, with the caption: 'Without the final and without the record.'
Instead they went big on Villa's possible switch to the Nou Camp, even using a picture of the prolific striker wearing his Valencia kit rather than that of Spain.
'45million limit,' the paper's headline said. 'The striker would become the most expensive signing in the history of the Azulgrana.'
The paper did dedicate its following five pages to Spain's defeat though, under the headline: 'Broken dream.'
Madrid-based Marca, Spain's biggest-selling paper, also mentioned a possible 43million swoop by Barca for Villa but that story played second fiddle on their front page to the national team's defeat.
Alongside a picture of Sergio Ramos, whose mistake led to the USA's second goal 16 minutes from time, holding his hands as if in prayer, Marca announced that the European champions had been 'taken down a notch'.
Marca viewed that as a potentially positive thing though, adding: 'We are the number one but it's better to lose now than inside a year at the World Cup.'
The newspaper felt the team had made a rod for their own backs, though, with the USA's opening goal also coming from a defensive mistake, when Joan Capdevila allowed Villarreal team-mate Altidore to escape his attentions far too easily on the edge of the box before firing home.
'The national team commits 'hara-kiri',' Marca said on page two.
'Two defensive mistakes end the good run of Spain, knocked out by a hard-working opponent.'
El Pais also highlighted Spain's flaws in the semi-final defeat, although they took Del Bosque's side to task for their failures up front rather than at the back.
El Pais reported: 'The US end Spain's dream. After two years and 35 games, Spain lose. The US achieve the feat of defeating a team that seemed invincible.
'Spain had 29 shots on goal and had 17 corners, but they paid for their poor decision-making.'
In America, the success by Bob Bradley and his team was greeted with almost universal plaudits and praise in the media.
The New York Times described the win as: 'US Victory Was a Miracle on Grass.
'The stunning 2-0 victory by the United States over Spain - the best team in the world - is probably the greatest victory by the men's national soccer team.'
It also went on to suggest that it was also probably the second biggest upset by an American team ever, behind the ice hockey victory over the Soviet Union during the 1980 winter Olympics.
The Chicago Tribune hailed the win as 'a watershed moment for the United States, signalling the team's arrival on the world soccer stage'.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, felt the US victory could not be considered the greatest in the 93-year history of the men's football team because it only took place at the Confederations Cup - a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup - but it still rated the win alongside the triumphs over England (1950), Colombia (1994) and Portugal (2002).
For Vicente del Bosque's side, they now have only pride to play for in a third-place play-off before leaving South Africa, and for some Spanish papers the defeat offered the chance to speculate further on the future of Villa, who has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent weeks.
Three of Spain's leading sports papers opted for virtually the same picture of Villa holding his head in his hands, but while AS used it alongside the headline 'How strange it is to lose', in reference to Spain's defeat, Catalan-based El Mundo Deportivo and Sport used it to link the Valencia striker to Barcelona.
Sport's headline on their front page read: 'Villa, straight to Barcelona.'
'The striker was the best player of a Spain side who will not be able to play the 'dream final' (against Brazil). The player is already only thinking of the Blaugrana (Barca) and soon will announce his future.'
Inside, Sport continued the same theme, claiming: 'Villa will come to Barca. His arrival is only a question of time.'
El Mundo Deportivo even relegated Spain's defeat to a small section at the bottom of their front page, with the caption: 'Without the final and without the record.'
Instead they went big on Villa's possible switch to the Nou Camp, even using a picture of the prolific striker wearing his Valencia kit rather than that of Spain.
'45million limit,' the paper's headline said. 'The striker would become the most expensive signing in the history of the Azulgrana.'
The paper did dedicate its following five pages to Spain's defeat though, under the headline: 'Broken dream.'
Madrid-based Marca, Spain's biggest-selling paper, also mentioned a possible 43million swoop by Barca for Villa but that story played second fiddle on their front page to the national team's defeat.
Alongside a picture of Sergio Ramos, whose mistake led to the USA's second goal 16 minutes from time, holding his hands as if in prayer, Marca announced that the European champions had been 'taken down a notch'.
Marca viewed that as a potentially positive thing though, adding: 'We are the number one but it's better to lose now than inside a year at the World Cup.'
The newspaper felt the team had made a rod for their own backs, though, with the USA's opening goal also coming from a defensive mistake, when Joan Capdevila allowed Villarreal team-mate Altidore to escape his attentions far too easily on the edge of the box before firing home.
'The national team commits 'hara-kiri',' Marca said on page two.
'Two defensive mistakes end the good run of Spain, knocked out by a hard-working opponent.'
El Pais also highlighted Spain's flaws in the semi-final defeat, although they took Del Bosque's side to task for their failures up front rather than at the back.
El Pais reported: 'The US end Spain's dream. After two years and 35 games, Spain lose. The US achieve the feat of defeating a team that seemed invincible.
'Spain had 29 shots on goal and had 17 corners, but they paid for their poor decision-making.'
In America, the success by Bob Bradley and his team was greeted with almost universal plaudits and praise in the media.
The New York Times described the win as: 'US Victory Was a Miracle on Grass.
'The stunning 2-0 victory by the United States over Spain - the best team in the world - is probably the greatest victory by the men's national soccer team.'
It also went on to suggest that it was also probably the second biggest upset by an American team ever, behind the ice hockey victory over the Soviet Union during the 1980 winter Olympics.
The Chicago Tribune hailed the win as 'a watershed moment for the United States, signalling the team's arrival on the world soccer stage'.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, felt the US victory could not be considered the greatest in the 93-year history of the men's football team because it only took place at the Confederations Cup - a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup - but it still rated the win alongside the triumphs over England (1950), Colombia (1994) and Portugal (2002).
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