Spain's Xavi Hernandez: Loss to Netherlands 'hardest loss of my career'

Xavi Hernandez has won seven La Liga club titles with Barcelona. (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Spain is one of the favorites in the World Cup. It entered the tournament ranked No. 1 by FIFA.

But the Spanish suffered a blowout loss to 15th-ranked Netherlands on Friday in their Group B opener, 5-1, a defeat midfielder Xavi Hernandez called "the hardest loss of my career," according to the Associated Press.

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 "It was a terrible match, a debacle. We did everything wrong," the 34-year-old Hernandez said after the Dutch scored five unanswered goals after Xabi Alonso scored on a penalty shot in the 27th minute.

Hernandez was making his 134th appearance for the Spanish national team and has won numerous trophies with the team, including the 2010 World Cup — when Spain beat the Dutch in the final — and 2008 and 2012 Euros.

Spain will play Chile on Wednesday and Australia on June 23, likely having to win both to reach the knockout stages.

Said Hernandez: "The positive is that we're still alive."

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