Spain's Sergio Busquets after penalty miss: "It's a cruel way to lose"
The Barcelona midfielder was one of three players to miss from the spot
Sergio Busquets lamented a "cruel way to lose" as Spain were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties by Morocco on Tuesday.
Busquets was one of three Spain players to miss from the spot as La Roja exited the competition at the last 16 stage.
"It's a cruel way to lose," Busquets said. "Morocco tired as the minutes passed and we had a chance at the end, the one with Pablo Sarabia, but it was not to be. It has not come off."
At 34, there will now be questions over Busquets' international career but he did not want to discuss the issue in the wake of the defeat.
"That's not important right now," he added. "It's been a tough night but we are in a good dynamic. The group is very young. This will serve for a lot in the future."
Spain and Barcelona teammate Ferran Torres said he "will try to convince the veterans to continue, they help us a lot," and also called on coach Luis Enrique to stay on.
"I don't know what will happen with Luis Enrique, but we're with him until the end and we will support whatever decision he takes," Ferran added. "If it was up to me, I would give him the job for life."
Ferran also complained about the permissive refereeing after Spain failed to break Morocco down in 120 minutes.
"The defeat hurts because we deserved to go through," he said. "I am proud of the team, we were consistent in how we played. Football owes us one.
"At moments, we played against 12, but we cannot depend on things we cannot control. We have to look forward now."
