Wednesday 22 June 2016 00:03, UK
Spain captain Sergio Ramos rued the penalty miss that contributed to them losing top spot in Euro 2016 Group D as they lost 2-1 to Croatia in Bordeaux.
Ramos missed a second-half penalty, meaning Spain must now face Italy in a repeat of the 2012 final in the last 16 in Paris on Monday and possibly Germany and France on route to the final.
Ramos has previously missed in the Champions League semi-final for Real Madrid against Bayern Munich in 2012, and the Confederations Cup final against Brazil in 2013.
"I had a chance to put my team ahead and unfortunately I couldn't convert," Ramos said. "It wasn't to be.
"Now we have to dance with the favourites, but to be champions you have to beat everyone.
"We will concentrate on ourselves and think about the last 16. We need to turn the page, learn a lot of lessons from this, so that it doesn't happen to us again in the last 16."
Before the penalty was taken with the scores at 1-1, Croatia captain Darijo Srna looked to the bench for advice, pointing to his right before speaking with goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
Ramos duly went to the goalkeeper's right, though Subasic was some way off his line when the Real Madrid defender stepped up.
Croatia's commitment in battling back from behind condemned a jaded Spain, going for a third straight title, to their first defeat in a European Championship finals since they were beaten 1-0 by Portugal in the 2004 group stages.
"When you play against the world's best, you have to play like this," Croatia and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic said. "We deserve it. We gave everything until the last minute."
