Robin Hackett watched Spain grab another late, but not-so-great, victory against Greece
Robin Hackett is under-whelmed by Spain's showing
Spain were superb in their opening match against an out-of-sorts Russia side, but against Sweden the cracks began to show. They were able to dominate the midfield, but they struggled against a side with a defensive mindset.
Of course, that win meant that they could rest key players like Fernando Torres, David Villa, Xavi and Carles Puyol in their final group match but, in resting the spine of the team after an average showing, they lost the chance to take some momentum into their next match.
The plus side is that it gave players like Dani Guiza, Sergio Garcia and Ruben de la Red the chance to show what they could do. Turns out they could do very little, despite what the goals and assists stats may tell you.
Guiza was toothless throughout, and only threatened to burst into life late on before turning in a relatively simple header; Garcia spent the majority of the match on the floor before putting in a great cross for Guiza to turn home; and De la Red was a liability before and after his glorious strike to bring Spain level.
Yes, it's points that win prizes and their contributions were, in the end, pivotal, but, against a better side, Spain may well never have had the chance to make amends for otherwise miserable performances.
And who's up next? Italy: a better side than Greece and one that's just had a major morale boost.
There was little joy for Spain in defence, either. Pepe Reina should have had much more protection from Juanito and Raul Albiol, who were nowhere when Angelos Charisteas headed Greece into the lead and did little to suggest they are ready for the knockout stages.
Positives
There were some positives for Spain, though. Xabi Alonso, who appears certain to leave Liverpool for Juventus this summer, was phenomenal, almost pulling out his favourite party trick with a lob from his own half as well as striking the inside of the post with a glorious drive.
Cesc Fabregas, too, impressed, controlling the game from midfield - albeit without making too many inroads - and Villarreal's Santi Cazorla, a surprise choice for the squad, looked very impressive after coming on for Andres Iniesta.
Iniesta, incidentally, looked to have benefited hugely from getting another run out. Aragones withdrew him after 58 minutes, but he showed flashes of the quick, incisive passing that is his trademark and will feel confident going into the Italy match.
It's impossible to lose sight of the fact that this was not the team that will take to the field against Italy, but Spain so frequently flatter to deceive at tournaments and confidence is absolutely paramount to their hopes of defeating the world champions.
Whether the continued form of Torres and Villa will be enough to break Italy down remains to be seen but, with Holland still in phenomenal form and Portugal looking like serious contenders, Spain need to rediscover their form - and quickly.
For the deposed champions, there was some consolation to be taken despite crashing out without a single point.
For one thing, they scored their first goal, and Charisteas began to resemble the player who had terrorised defences in Portugal.
But more significantly, they were, for the most part, tight and organised and made it difficult for Spain to play. It's not enjoyable to watch on the whole but, with players of limited ability, it is the only way to succeed and they looked to have taken a step back to former glories for long stretches in this match.
And, of course, it's also worth paying tribute to goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis who, at 36, played his final match for his country.
An uncharacteristic error against Russia aside, the veteran continued to impress and instil confidence in his defence in Euro 2008, harking back to his key role in his side's unprecedented international success four years ago.
