Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said there would be "consequences", including potentially for himself, after the holders' shock elimination from the World Cup on Wednesday, but that he needed time to reflect.

"Whenever something negative happens in a World Cup or an important competition like this, it has consequences," Del Bosque told reporters after Spain lost 2-0 to Chile, their second defeat in Group B which left them unable to reach the knockout phase.

"I don't want to get into that analysis because we have a lot of time ahead of us," he added. "We need to reflect on this calmly. We will have time to do the things that we think are best for Spanish football and that applies to me as well."

Del Bosque, 63, took over the Spain team from the late Luis Aragones after they won Euro 2008 and led them to victory at the World Cup in South Africa two years later before they triumphed again at Euro 2012.

Del Bosque said Spain played too slowly and too timidly in the first half against Chile, when the South American side scored both goals, following on from their second-half collapse in the 5-1 thrashing by the Netherlands last week.

"It hurts of course but today we were timid all through the first half," he said.

"We had a bit more action in second but it wasn't enough to get a result.

"We didn't have much luck when it came to chances. But we mustn't look for excuses. We were inferior to Netherlands and to Chile and we need to look forwards, nothing else."

Midfielder Xabi Alonso, who was withdrawn at halftime and replaced by Koke, said the Spain players had to deal with the "great sadness" caused by the setback "like men".

"The supply of joy is all used up and we were not able to keep the good run going," Alonso told reporters.

"The feelings were not like in other championships. In other years we knew how to control games and this time we were nowhere.

"It's the worst defeat of my career, but just as we knew how to behave as winners we have to know how to lose."

Forward Fernando Torres, scorer of the winning goal in the Euro 2008 final and a second-half substitute against the Chileans, predicted Spain would bounce back as they had a promising crop of younger players.

"There is a great generation coming through and we will do great things again," he told reporters. "You can't win all the time and thankfully we can look back and see everything we have achieved."

Croatia thrash 10-man Cameroon in World Cup rout

Croatia gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the World Cup knockout phase for the first time since 1998 when they thrashed toothless Cameroon 4-0 on Wednesday with defeat condemning the Africans to an early tournament exit.

Evergreen striker Ivica Olic put Croatia ahead after 11 minutes and Cameroon, who cannot now qualify from Group A after losing their first two games, were reduced to 10 men five minutes before halftime when Alex Song was shown a straight red for striking Mario Mandzukic.

Ivan Perisic seized on a poor clearance by Cameroon keeper Charles Itandje to race forward and drive in the second shortly after the break.

An unmarked Mario Mandzukic, back after suspension ruled him out of the tournament opener, headed the third on his World Cup debut just after an hour and tapped in his second as Croatia strolled to a comfortable victory.

The result left the Croatians third in the group on three points from two games, one behind Brazil and Mexico ahead of Monday's decisive clash with the Mexicans in Recife.

"We weren't at our best in the opening five or 10 minutes but improved later," said Croatia coach Niko Kovac.

"We let (Cameroon) have too many chances and we still have much potential left."

Cameroon, who have won only one game in their last five World Cups, finished in disarray with defender Benoit Assou Ekotto appearing to head-butt team mate Benjamin Moukandjo and a more serious scuffle was only prevented by a rival Croatian player.