Spain soccer stars draw ire on World Cup defeat

[MADRID] Angel de Castro's newspaper kiosk in northern Madrid is draped with red-and-yellow flags and scarves he's sure he won't be able to sell, now that Spain's World Cup is gone.

"The economic blow is great because what am I going to do with all this merchandise - I won't be selling a single banner or shirt today," said Mr de Castro in an interview.

The country's ejection from the World Cup comes as King Felipe VI was sworn in yesterday in a show of royal pomp that contrasts with the country's economic reality as it crawls out of a recession that has left a quarter of Spaniards without jobs.

The added gloom brought on by the soccer setback is rapidly turning into bitterness directed at the millionaire stars of "La Seleccion", as the national team is called.

In Montecarmelo, in one of the barrios or neighbourhoods of apartment blocks that sprouted on Madrid's periphery during the country's housing boom, the mood yesterday was sombre, with a tinge of anger.

"These are many of the same players who won in South Africa four years ago, but it didn't look like the same team," said student Oscar Carmona, 22. - Bloomberg