Euro 2008 Final - Germany 0 - 1 Spain
The scoreline was the same as it had been four years ago in Lisbon, when the obdurate play of Greece beat a more stylish Portugal side to win the trophy. But this time, the footballing tables were turned, as the class of Spain triumphed over the more limited ambitions of Germany, as total football reigned supreme in Europe once again.
In the end, the scoreline didn't really do the dominance Spain enjoyed any sort of justice, though the profligancy of the Spanish shooting at times made you wonder if the match was heading for an inevitable last-minute German equaliser, and the lottery of penalties. But for the last ten minutes, Spain barely let the Germans venture out of their own half, and the five attacking players the Germany side ended the game with were horribly isolated up front.
Germany had the better of the opening exchanges, although they struggled to create too many chances. Klose latched onto a loose pass from Sergio Ramos to race into the Spanish area, but Carlos Puyol managed to get a foot to the ball to clear, and later Thomas Hitzelsperger had a shot saved by Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal.
Spain slowly began to take control of the game, and Jens Lehmann had to be alert to stop a wayward tap by his own defender, Christoph Metzelder, flying into the goal after a chip through by Iniesta was met by the struggling German defender. Then, Fernando Torres headed onto the post of the German goal after meeting a decent cross from David Silva, having easily broken away from Per Mertesacker's challenge. Mertesacker made up for his poor defending moments later, staying with the pace of Torres and clearing a through ball.
Torres finally broke the deadlock after a hatful of half chances on 33 minutes, when a perfectly-timed through ball from Xavi was met by the Spain striker, and then Torres lifted the ball over the onrushing Lehmann to bring out euphoria from the Spanish fans.
Straight after taking the lead, Spain should have doubled their advantage, but a neat counter attack ended with Silva volleying uselessly over the bar from 12 yards out. Germany offered little on the run up to half time, and Spain went in clearly the better side.
Into the second half, and Germany immediately made changes to try and shake up the balance of power. Marcell Jansen came on for Philip Lahm, while Kevin Kuranyi came on for the ineffectual Tomas Hitzelsperger, and for a few moments, it seemed to make a difference. Jansen managed to get a cross in for Ballack to shoot wide, and then Kuranyi managed to get a break inside the Spanish area, but he couldn't control the ball.
Germany then benefitted from a Marcos Senna slip to break, but Bastian Schweinsteiger shot wide. Luis Aragones reacted by removing the attacking force of Cesc Fabregas and bringing on the more defensive Xabi Alonso.
Spain had a massive let off midway through the half, when the referee Roberto Rosetti seemed to miss a headbutt by David Silva on Lukas Podolski. If it had been spotted, Silva could well have been sent off, and Aragones removed Silva from the action as a precaution moments later.
For the final twenty minutes, Germany simply wilted in the face of some irresistable Spanish play. Sergio Ramos forced a save from Lehmann after more awful German defending, and Andreas Iniesta saw his shot somehow cleared off the line. The goalscorer Torres was replaced by Daniel Guiza, and Mario Gomez came on to offer another attacking option for Germany, albeit a useless one.
As Spain squandered more and more chances, Marcos Senna inches away from sliding a Guiza header into the net and Alonso seeing a shot blocked, so the feeling grew that Germany would grab a lucky equaliser, as is usually their way. But the Spanish side kept the ball with ease over the last few minutes, and ran the clock down to greet the final whistle with unashamed joy.
As the Germans reflected on their defeat, it was left to Casillas to lift the trophy and allow 44 years of torment to be consigned to the memory of the Spanish fans. They are the new European champions, and they were wonderful value for it.
So, an excellent tournament comes to an end, and in the end, we got the right winners. Total football is back, and it feels fantastic.
Result | ||
| Germany | 0 - 1 | Spain |
Torres 33 |
Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm (46 Jansen), Schweinsteiger, Frings, Ballack, Hitzlsperger (58 Kuranyi), Podolski, Klose (79 Gomez).
Spain: Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila, Senna, Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas (63 Alonso), Silva (66 Santi Cazorla), Torres (78 Guiza).
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