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Spain 'won't fall apart'

Rio de Janeiro - Vicente del Bosque will not be rushed into a decision over his future as coach of Spain after their Soccer World Cup reign ended in a humiliating first round exit.

Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Chile at Rio's Maracana, which followed a 5-1 rout at the hands of the Netherlands, sealed the fate of Spain who were chasing a fourth successive title to add to their 2010 World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European championships.

"This is not the time to reflect on my future," said del Bosque who insisted that Spain, having grown so used to triumph, now had to learn from adversity.

"When something negative comes out of such an important competition then of course there are consequences. I don't want to go into an analysis right now - there will be plenty of time for that.

"We have players and a federation who are very consolidated - we are not falling apart. We will take the time to do what is best for Spanish football - and I include myself there," he insisted.

"We must not make snap decisions on the basis of what has happened here. We played two games and were not able to overcome our rivals - Holland and Chile were better than us on the day."

Del Bosque acknowledged his side were poor in the second half where they fell to pieces against the Dutch and in the first 45 minutes against a Chilean side who scented blood from the outset.

"I thought we came here in good shape and the problem would be which were the best eleven players to field. But things did not turn out as we expected," said the 63-year-old coach.

"But we mustn't make excuses. We are out, we were inferior and we must look to the future."

Before 2008, Spanish fans had endured four decades of under-achievement going back to their maiden Euro '64 win and on Wednesday it was back to the past as they endured a miserable evening with Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aranguiz netting first half goals.

Chile and the Netherlands have now qualified from Group B with Spain and Australia eliminated.

When Chile and the Dutch meet in Sao Paulo on Monday, the winner will almost certainly avoid having to face Brazil in the last 16.

"We were inferior to both Holland and Chile," admitted del Bosque, the former Real Madrid handler and architect of their World Cup and Euro 2012 win after predecessor Luis Aragones had steered them to their 2008 success.

After six years of conquering all before them, there had been signs against the Dutch the sands of time were starting to run out.

Del Bosque did not shy from dropping midfield genius Xavi Hernandez to the bench as well as Barcelona clubmate Gerard Pique though he kept faith with goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

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