Spain 4 Italy 0: Silva, Alba, Torres and Mata the heroes as La Roja create history in Kiev
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UPDATED:
21:04 GMT, 1 July 2012
Sensational Spain trampled all over those boring jibes and marched straight into the history books with a magnificent Euro 2012 final victory over Italy in Kiev.
First-half goals from David Silva and Jordi Alba and late efforts from substitutes Fernando Torres and Juan Mata confirmed La Roja as the first team to record three successive major tournament victories, including a World Cup, with the biggest ever win in a European Championship final.
Champions! Torres scored the Spaniards' third as the Italians were blown away in Kiev
Spain v Italy – match facts
Spain: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Silva (Pedro Rodriguez 59), Fabregas (Torres 75), Iniesta.
Subs not used: Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Juanfran, Negredo, Mata, Llorente, Santi Cazorla, Jesus Navas, Reina.
Booked: Pique.
Goals: Silva (14), (Alba 41) Torres (84), Mata (88).
Italy: Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini (Balzaretti 21), Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo (Thiago Motta 57), De Rossi, Balotelli, Cassano (Di Natale 45).
Subs not used: Sirigu, Maggio, Ogbonna, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, Diamanti, Nocerino, De Sanctis.
Booked: Barzagli.
Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)
And they did it with the most awesome
display of passing power, which made a mockery of all those who had
questioned them beforehand.
It was all too much for Mario
Balotelli, who marched straight down the tunnel at the end and angrily
shrugged away efforts from Italian officials to get him to stay, before
returning for the presentation ceremony.
Yet the thing was, Italy were not
disgraced and would have held out hopes of a comeback until Cesare
Prandelli's final replacement Thiago Motta was stretchered off within
four minutes of his arrival, leaving his team-mates to battle through
the final half hour with 10 men.
Ultimately though, Spain's display was a fitting end to the best European Championships in almost three decades.
Four players in particular, Iker
Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta and Xavi deserve a special
mention after starting all three finals, in Vienna, Johannesburg and now
Ukraine.
But, as 'Ole' rang around this
magnificent stadium, it was a night to glory in tiki-taka – and the
players who put it into practice.
Heads I win: Silva scores the opening goal past Italy goalkeeper Buffon
Throughout the tournament, the argument for Spain being a dour outfit had been building.
It dominated the pre-match press
conferences and was fuelled still further by Arsene Wenger, who accused
the world champions of “betrayed their philosophy” by turning their
tiki-taka style into a negative.
After 15 minutes of the most majestic
football imaginable, the greatest noise was the sound of all those words
being rammed jubilantly down throats.
Double your money: Iniesta's pass found Alba who stroked the ball home for Spain's second
Coach Vicente del Bosque refused to
bow to the demand for a regular centre-forward to be included in his
starting line-up and was rewarded with a start the quality of which was
on a par with anything this group of players has ever produced.
Ramos had a couple of early efforts,
so too Xavi. Andres Iniesta also had a shot blocked before Spain cut
their opponents' defence to shreds.
The move was astounding in its simplicity.
Three and easy: Torres came off the bench to score in a Euro final for the second time
Alvaro Arbeloa started it, Xavi was
also involved before Iniesta split the Italy defence with a pass Cesc
Fabregas was able to cut-back from the by-line.
And who should be there to head home
None other than little David Silva, who had got free at the near post
and flicked the ball into the far.
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Icing on the cake: Mata made it four with a couple of minutes left on the clock to complete the rout
Again five passes were involved. This
time it went back to front. Iker Casillas, Fabregas and then Alba, who
fed Xavi and kept motoring.
What unfolded can only make Barcelona
thankful they had agreed to pay Valencia 13million for the full-back
before the tournament started. His price would have gone up
significantly otherwise.
Party time! Casillas lifts the trophy to spark the celebrations for the European champions
Party time! Casillas lifts the trophy to spark the celebrations for the European champions
Xavi has played that straight through
ball thousands of times in his illustrious career. The pace on it was
perfect. Alba, beyond Italy's back-line, steadied himself before sliding
a shot calmly past Gianluigi Buffon.
Under normal circumstances, the half-time statistics would have underlined Spain's superiority.
It's a dog's life! Balotelli's adoptive family were there to watch him in the stands with a banner
In fact, they showed Italy had played more passes and secured 53 per cent possession, almost unheard of against this Spain team.
With Casillas not enjoying his most
secure evening, the Azzurri would have expected to create something
meaningful. But the bounce of the ball would not go their way.
No impact: Balotelli was in devastating form in the semi-final but found the going hard against the Spaniards
Casillas got in the way of a thunderous effort from Antonio Cassano and Balotelli fired over.
No-one could accuse Prandelli of
lacking guts. Within 11 minutes of the re-start he had used all his
substitutes and seen one of them Antonio di Natale bring a decent save
out of Casillas after collecting Riccardo Montolivo's pass inside the
area.
Game over: The closing ceremony heralded the final match of the tournament and marks four years until he next event in France
Unfortunately for Italy, the last
replacement, Motta was only on the field for four minutes before he
pulled a hamstring and had to be stretchered off.
It was dreadful luck for the Azzurri,
who now knew their task was a hopeless one. All that was left was to
stave off humiliation.
Soak it up: Fans of both teams soaked up the atmosphere ahead of kick-off around the ground
Soak it up: Fans of both teams soaked up the atmosphere ahead of kick-off around the ground
Even that was beyond them as substitutes Torres and Mata struck in the final minutes. Italy didn't deserve that.
Their first competitive defeat to Spain – penalties excepted – since the 1920 Olympics.
Spain, record breakers twice over, now unbeaten in this competition for 29 games, a run that stretches back to June 2004.
History makers. How boring.
Fans for coming: The supporters of both teams brought real colour to the proceedings
