For weeks, people have been saying that the dream must come to an end, and now it has. The Spanish soccer team, famous for reaching the quarter-final stage of major competitions, made it one step further this time and reached the semi finals of the Euro 2008, but having come this far they were then roundly defeated by a second half display by the Russians, who put no fewer than three goals past them in what some are calling a display of perfect football. The fans are desolate tonight, knowing that this could have been a historic occasion – the first time in 24 years that the Spanish team reached a final. Madrid’s Plaza de Colón, where the celebrations were expected to last until the early hours, is a desolate place. The streets should have been filled with the sounds of car horns, but are strangely quiet, while the city’s barmen are regretting the team’s incapacity to live up the big occasions. The Prince and Princess of Asturias, far from hugging one another through the game, sat there stony-faced throughout, while the players, particularly Iniesta, who played poorly, are heartbroken. The coach, Luis Aragonés, looks and sounds the same as always.

Eh? What? Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll read that again.