Spain's intricate passing style, dubbed 'tiki-taka', swept all before it for the best part of six years, but the sight of Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso being harried out of their stride by Jorge Sampaoli's hard-working Chile at the Maracana on Wednesday felt like the end of an era.
Argentina legend Diego Maradona is among those who believe that tiki-taka has become a tactical relic, but can an approach that has become so widespread be invalidated by the result of just one game?
Where Spain led with tiki-taka, winning Euro 2008, so Barcelona followed, dominating the European club game between 2008 and 2011 under Pep Guardiola, who subsequently installed the same playing philosophy at Bayern Munich.
It was Barcelona, with Lionel Messi, who first brought the 'false nine' tactic to a wider audience, while it is now commonplace to see goalkeepers methodically practising first-time passes during their pre-match warm-ups. Its legacy can also be seen in the ubiquitousness of small, Spanish midfielders at Europe's leading clubs, from Silva at Manchester City and Santi Cazorla at Arsenal to Thiago Alcantara at Bayern and Juan Mata at Manchester United.
"If you go two years without winning, everything has to change. But you change names, not identity," Xavi Hernandez said once in an interview. "The philosophy can't be lost. Our fans wouldn't understand a team that sat back and played on the break."
Tiki-taka owed its origins to a unique set of circumstances, specifically the emergence at Barcelona and Spain of a group of similarly aged players who were coached in the same way.
Its figureheads, such as Xavi and Iniesta, were always destined to topple from the sport's summit at some point, but with tiki-taka disciples now dotting the game, it would be precipitous to sound the death knell too soon.
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