Spain v Italy - The Final Statement

For the sake of their legacy, Spain needed this.  Any kind of win would have given them their third consecutive major title, but in winning this way they put themselves up their with the all time great teams.
This was their AC Milan 4 Barcelona 0, their England 3 Hungary 6, their Brazil 4 Italy 1, indeed for many of the team it would have reminded them of Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 0!  This was a statement win, it silenced the doubters who branded Spain boring and questioned the wisdom of playing without a recognised striker.  It showed just how far ahead of the pack Spain are.  Most importantly, it is a performance that will be remembered for decades to come and provided a fitting finish to a wonderful Euro 2012.

In fairness to the critics of Spain, they hadn't hit top gear during June and had been stretched by Croatia, Portugal and ironically Italy in their journey to the final.  Indeed, a lot of people (myself included) thought that the Italians would clinch a remarkable victory.  After all, they had produced the performance of the competition against Germany in the semis and handed out a 0-0 thrashing to England a few days before.  However, it was clear from almost the first minute that Spain were in the zone and getting the ball off them would be a massive task.


It seems churlish to name individuals in this team, but so much of what Spain do well goes through Xavi.  In the semi final he was poor and subsequently Spain struggled.  Here, he was everywhere. Always available for a short pass, always looking for the killer ball and always making sure Spain retained possession. An early period of play saw the Spanish string around 20 passes together before Xavi put a 20 yarder inches over the bar.  The first goal seemed inevitable and sure enough it arrived shortly after.  This time it was Iniesta and Fabregas carving up the defence allowing David Silva to head a great finish into the Italian net.  It looked very simple, but was anything but.

To Italy's credit they carried on trying to attack and had a few near misses. Casillias had to be alert to deal with some dangerous Pirlo corners, whilst Cassano stung his hands with a 25 yard smash.  The problem for Italy was sustaining any period of pressure. As soon as they lost the ball it was taking an age to get it back.
The second Spanish goal was the team in microcosm - a perfect through ball form Xavi and a gut busting 50 yard run from young Jordi Alba to get on the end of it. Perfect mix of pace, timing, technical ability and finishing. And the man at the centre of it was the left back!

I've barely mentioned Italy so far, but I actually thought they put up a good display in the Final.  They had a large dose of bad luck and had to play the last 30 minutes with ten men due to an injury to Thiago Motta, but up until that point they had competed well. Di Natele put one header over and was later denied by a great block from Casillias. But after going down to ten men, they were a spent force. The final 2 Spanish goals came as no great surprise and once again it was the assists that were as memorable as the goals.  Lovely passes from Xavi and Busquets helped to round off the scoring and 4-0 was about a fair reflection of the game.

I could go on eulogising about the Spanish performance, but I'm sure you've read numerous other reports doing the same.  Instead I'm going to go thorough my highlights of the last 3 weeks in the form of a few Top 5's:

Top 5 Matches

1. Spain v Italy Group C - Little did we know that it would be a preview of the final, but it was great seeing 2 high quality teams giving a masterclass in passing and possession.  Best of all, they both played to win, which is not always the case during the Group stages.

2. Denmark v Portugal - 5 goals, numerous near misses and a fantastic second half.  The of game that may be gone when the competition expands to 24 teams.

3.  Germany v Italy -  The night Mario Balotelli showed he can be great.  And the night that Andrea Pirlo confirmed just how great he is. Germany played with class but Italy stood firm and probably should have won by more.

4.  Poland v Greece - The best Euro opener since.....well certainly since I started watching the sport. Red cards, goals, brilliant atmosphere, controversy and a penalty save from a reserve keeper.

5. Russia v Poland - Just a joy to watch. End to end action, wonderful moves and a fantastic goal from the Polish skipper.  The subsequent celebration will be one of the abiding memories of the whole competition.


Top 5 Goals


1. Ibrahimovic v France - Zlatan can now lay claim to the best goal at each of the last 3 Euros!  I had the privilege of being there to witness his absurd back heel volley against Italy in 2004, and whilst this bullet of a volley from a horizontal position wasn't quite in that class, it was certainly the best on show at this tournament.  If only the rest of the Swedish team were as good!

2.  Blaszczykowski v Russia - See above. Wonderful moment in a wonderful game. The Dortmund midfielders first touch and finish were both of the highest order.  The knee slide wasn't bad either!

3.  Jordi Alba v Italy - Spain in microcosm.  Amazingly, they only had 2 players in the Italian half during the entire move, but Xavi and Alba found a way to goal.  Alba may have settled the "who's the best left back" debate for a good few years.

4.  Van der Vaart v Portugal - Largely forgotten due to the subsequent collapse of the Dutch, but just for a few minutes it looked like Holland were clicking.  This was a lovely 25 yard curler that flew into the corner of the net.  The less said about the subsequent 75 minutes the better.

5.  Pavlychenko v Czech Rep - Roman only came on for the last 20 minutes, but still provided an assist and a goal. His goal saw him take a couple of touches on the edge of the area before unleashing a rocket into the top corner.  We all thought Russia were destined for great things...one week later they were out.


Top 5 Teams

1. Spain - Not at their best for much of the competition, but still in a league of their own.  Rounded it off with a stunning destruction of Italy in the final.

2.  Italy - Exceeded all expectations with brilliant performances against Spain, England and Germany. In Pirlo, they had one of the stars of the tournament. Whilst younger players like Marcissio, Montelivo, Bonucci and Balotelli showed that this team could be around for a few years.  A world away from some of the negative Italian sides of the past.

3. Germany - This was their time....or at least it was until Italy came along.  They waltzed through a tough Group and the destruction of Greece in the Quarter Final was one of the highlights of the competition. 4 semi finals in a row for this young side, and there's no sign of them going away any time soon.

4.  Portugal - Gave Spain their toughest night. Yes, Ronaldo was excellent, but there's so much more to this side.  Pepe, Alves, Coentrao, Moutinho, Pereira and Patricio all had superb tournaments.  The display against Holland was a pleasure to watch and Ronaldo could have had about 6 goals!

5.  Croatia - Pity poor Ireland, not only did they have the 2 finalists in their Group but they also had this lot from the Baltics.  After brushing the Irish aside, Croatia claimed a deserved draw with Italy and if Rapatic had converted his header against Spain we could have been looking at a different winner.  Had a terrible draw, and on this evidence they would have walked Groups A or D.

So that was Euro 2012.  I wouldn't quite put it in the league of Euro 200, but it was certainly a memorable event and showed why 16 teams is the perfect amount for a tournament. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing about it and am already looking forward to overdosing on coffee in 2 years time!