Silva opened the scoring for Spain. (©GettyImages)
Spain's position as the greatest side ever witnessed in
international football can no longer be questioned after La Roja claimed
an historic third consecutive tournament triumph with victory over
Italy in the final of Euro 2012.The Spaniards claimed their first
crown in 44 years when they won the European Championships in 2008 and
followed that with success in South Africa two years later to secure
their first ever World Cup.They can now boast to have won three out of
the last three competitions, with a comprehensive win over a tired Italy
ensuring Vicente Del Bosque's side are etched into the footballing
tapestry for all eternity.David Silva gave Spain the lead inside the
first quarter of an hour and the result never looked in doubt from
thereon in as Jordi Alba doubled the advantage four minutes before the
interval.Fernando Torres stole in late on to ensure even further history
was made by becoming the only player to score in consecutive finals and
Juan Mata netted on his first appearance of the tournament to complete a
nigh on perfect evening in Kiev for Spain.Accusations of boring
football have followed Spain around during their time in Ukraine and
Poland, but there was no evidence of this against Italy as Del Bosque's
men deployed their tika-tika style to perfection.The opener was vintage
Spain, with Cesc Fabregas - starting at the summit of a packed midfield -
being found expertly by Andres Iniesta on 14 minutes before standing up
a cross for Silva to add the finishing touch with an uncharacteristic
header to complete a fine moveNot to be outdone by his Barcelona
teammate, Xavi combined wonderfully with Jordi Alba to create the
second; piercing the Italian defence with a trademark through ball,
which Alba busted a gut to latch onto and slide past Buffon.Spain's
dominance was aided by a lacklustre performance from Italy, who clearly
displayed the effects of three games in seven days following their
victories over England and Germany respectively.Over exertion in recent
days was even more evident in the second half when Thiago Motta, who had
replaced Riccardo Montolivo only moments earlier, suffered a hamstring
injury which left Italy with only ten men on the pitch, having used up
their allocation of substitutes.Despite their man advantage, Spain were
not prepared to go for the juggular but rather attempt to pass the
Italians into submission, although possession statistics failed to tell
the entire story.Torres added a third late on when he cooly finished
after another killer pass from Xavi, while the Chelsea striker turned
provider for his clubmate Mata to leave Italy facing the heaviest defeat
in European Championship finals.
Spain's position as the greatest side ever witnessed in
international football can no longer be questioned after La Roja claimed
an historic third consecutive tournament triumph with victory over
Italy in the final of Euro 2012.The Spaniards claimed their first
crown in 44 years when they won the European Championships in 2008 and
followed that with success in South Africa two years later to secure
their first ever World Cup.They can now boast to have won three out of
the last three competitions, with a comprehensive win over a tired Italy
ensuring Vicente Del Bosque's side are etched into the footballing
tapestry for all eternity.David Silva gave Spain the lead inside the
first quarter of an hour and the result never looked in doubt from
thereon in as Jordi Alba doubled the advantage four minutes before the
interval.Fernando Torres stole in late on to ensure even further history
was made by becoming the only player to score in consecutive finals and
Juan Mata netted on his first appearance of the tournament to complete a
nigh on perfect evening in Kiev for Spain.Accusations of boring
football have followed Spain around during their time in Ukraine and
Poland, but there was no evidence of this against Italy as Del Bosque's
men deployed their tika-tika style to perfection.The opener was vintage
Spain, with Cesc Fabregas - starting at the summit of a packed midfield -
being found expertly by Andres Iniesta on 14 minutes before standing up
a cross for Silva to add the finishing touch with an uncharacteristic
header to complete a fine moveNot to be outdone by his Barcelona
teammate, Xavi combined wonderfully with Jordi Alba to create the
second; piercing the Italian defence with a trademark through ball,
which Alba busted a gut to latch onto and slide past Buffon.Spain's
dominance was aided by a lacklustre performance from Italy, who clearly
displayed the effects of three games in seven days following their
victories over England and Germany respectively.Over exertion in recent
days was even more evident in the second half when Thiago Motta, who had
replaced Riccardo Montolivo only moments earlier, suffered a hamstring
injury which left Italy with only ten men on the pitch, having used up
their allocation of substitutes.Despite their man advantage, Spain were
not prepared to go for the juggular but rather attempt to pass the
Italians into submission, although possession statistics failed to tell
the entire story.Torres added a third late on when he cooly finished
after another killer pass from Xavi, while the Chelsea striker turned
provider for his clubmate Mata to leave Italy facing the heaviest defeat
in European Championship finals.
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire