Iniesta frustrated by referee display

The midfielder hit out at Brazil's aggressive style of play and claimed the Dutch official should have been stricter with Luis Felipe Scolari's men.

He said: "There were many interruptions. We knew that might happen, but the referee has to draw the line."

The Barcelona midfielder added: "We were up against a very strong side that did everything better than us and paid a lot of attention to the small details. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, so we just have to accept it.

"They were better than us, we tried to get back into the game but it wasn't to be. We have to congratulate the champions and try to do things as best as possible from now on."

Xavi only focused on Spain's poor performance and believes the home side's early goal was a huge setback. "Nothing went our way, everything went against us, we didn't got into the game at any moment," he said.

"Their goal after two minutes made things very difficult for us and benefited the way Brazil play. They played on the counter-attack, we weren't able to dominate them, as we normally do to opponents, and we ended up paying for it. They were more intense, had more rhythm, pressed harder, they were just better."

Iker Casillas admitted his side were wounded by the defeat but did not think it would have too many ramifications for the team ahead of next year's World Cup. "We know that it's nothing like the World Cup or the European Championships, but when you lose 3-0, it still hurts," he said.

Spain's misery was in stark contrast to the joy felt by the host nation. Fred put them ahead early on before a Neymar strike just before half-time and a second from Fred shortly after the restart handed the Selecao an emphatic win.

Neymar was later voted man of the match and player of the tournament but the 21-year-old, recently signed by Barcelona, was more than happy to share the acclaim with his team-mates. He told O Globo: "Everyone should be congratulated. The team played great, beyond what we expected. It was a wonderful achievement."