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Spain - Euro 2008 Winner

Spain - Euro 2008 Winner

It has been a great month of international football and many of the football purists will be delighted to see Spain being triumphant at Euro 2008 and the final in Austria.

The scoreline suggested a close run thing but in all honesty, as soon as the game settled down, the Spanish were in full control and were fully deserving of their victory.

In fact, the performances that the Spanish have displayed throughout the campaign has seen them worthy winners and finally the Spanish have lived up to their promise. For the first time since 1964 the European nations trophy was heading to Spain and there can be very few complaints about the outcome. Three victories in the group stages was an early indication that perhaps this year would be the time they lived up to the hype and they delivered on their early promise.

Attacking Football is Back in Fashion
Scoring more goals than anyone else and conceding less than anyone else showed that Spain were getting it right at both ends of the park and with their tiny midfield bossing every match, it can be said that it was a victory for flowing football and positive play.

The Uefa Cup final in May saw Zenit St Petersburg overcome the anti-football of Rangers, the Champions League final went to the most naturally attacking club side in the competition and now Spain have defeated the stuffy Germans. Perhaps this may influence some coaches throughout the world and there may be more attacking football to watch in the next year or two.

Football tends to go in cycles and if Greece showed that tactics and nullifying your opponent was a key factor in 2004 then 2008 will be remembered for positive play and quick attacking football.

Some of the pre-match focus was looking at injured players with Spain's David Villa ruled out of the match and major concerns over the fitness of Michael Ballack. Spain proved in the semi finals that they could progress without the Valencia hit man but would few would back the Germans when they were lacking their talismanic captain.

Ballack is a big game player who can be relied upon when it matters and there must have been a lot of relief when Ballack was declared fit to feature in the final. Over the course of the game it became more noticeable that the Chelsea midfielder was toiling but he was still one of the better German players on the park.

El Nino the Matchwinner Again
On 33 minutes time seemed to stand still as Philipp Lahm and Jens Lehmann were taken by surprise as Fernando Torres nicked in between them both and toe poked the ball beyond the onrushing goalkeeper. An agonising few seconds passed before the ball crept over the line and nestled into the side of the net.

The Spanish rushed to congratulate the baby faced goalscorer and celebrate taking the lead in the final. Up until this point, the game had been mainly even but Spain showed they were looking to take a grip on the game.

The best chance before the goal had also fallen to Spain and Torres was unlucky to see his header come back off the base of the post. The German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann had a terrible match in the semi-final and he looked equally shaky at times in the final. The goalkeeper was mightily relieved when the rebound was whipped wide of his post.

At 1-0 up,Spain settled in slightly and Germany managed to impose themselves further up the park a bit but never managed to pose any danger to the Spanish goal. In fact, Spain looked more dangerous on the break and on the brink of half-time could possibly have extended their lead with a quick burst into the German box which was eventually knocked behind for a corner.

At half time, Spain held the one goal advantage and were good value for their lead. Germany had managed three goals in their two previous knock out matches but they rarely looked like scoring in the first half. Spain were no doubt hoping for more of the same in the second half but Joachim Low needed to pull something out of the bag to keep his team, and nation, in with a chance of winning the trophy.

Germany Lacked Attacking Options
Even though they had scored goals, Germany had a tournament where their top strikers were lacking in form or were frankly not good enough to be playing for a nation like Germany, like Kevin Kuranyi. The fact that Spain had Torres and Villa as their main strikers for the tournament and then had La Liga's top scorer in Guiza sitting on the bench ready to come on at any point said everything about their play.

The attacking possibilities that Spain possessed was a key factor in their success this summer.

The second half started at a good pace and Germany were forcing the play a bit more but apart from a few scrapes and battles, there was nothing of much note. That was until Spain sprang to life before the 70th minute where in a short space of time, Lehmann was forced into pulling off two good saves and Frings hacked one off the line.

Spain Get Their Moment in the Sun
With the football action now over, the focus will turn towards transfers and rebuilding of squads for the forthcoming season. It has been noticeable that the major European teams have yet to indulge in the transfer market and there are likely to be many players on show in Austria and Switzerland who will be moving around in the next two months. However, that is for another time and this moment belongs to Spain.

Their coach Aragones is a controversial figure and whilst the majority of the world has taken umbrage to some of the racist remarks he has allegedly made, in Spain, mot of the debate has been about his dropping of Real Madrid legend Raul. Those critics will have to eat their words now as Raul sits at home and faces up to the fact that he is not part of the generation of Spanish players who finally stood up for themselves.

For the players in the squad itself, they know that their place in Spanish footballing history is now assured and already people will be thinking about the chances of Spain going to the 2010 World Cup and building on this success.

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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