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After a full month of blood, sweat and tears; after all the drama, the excruciating near-goals and the fantastic saves, after the net has been battered many times, it all comes down to this - The Euro 2012 finals match between La Roja and the Azurri, Spain against Italy.
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Final match: Spain 4-0 Italy
The goal count should be enough manifestation that this was a one-sided game. Just 14 minutes in, David Silva heads in a beautiful goal from a brilliant Fabregas pass. Twenty minutes later, Jordi Alba, the superb Spanish Left-back (!), makes a brilliant run to make it 2-0 before half-time. Critics are bombing Spain of their lack of a striker and boring play... Do they really need a striker with this kind of play? And is this boring? No to both questions, I think.
Spain's Left-back Jordi Alba makes it 2-0 after a superb goal before half-time.
Video retrieved from youtube.com. Video uploaded by Mehran Ravanbod.
Second half and Italy was on the rally. Bouncing back was the ultimate goal. Put this to extra time, maybe? Or clinch three goals in 45 minutes? The race against the clock was on for the Azurri.
Unfortunately for the Italians, it was simply not their night. Italy had used its first sub on Chiellini in exchange for Balzaretti in the 21st minute (yeah, it was that early), followed by Cassano for Di Natale in the 46th and finally Montolivo for Motta in the 57th. Four minutes after that, Motta gets injured and is carried off the field, leaving Italy with 10 men over Spain's superb 11. There will be blood.
Torres was called in to replace Fabregas in the 75th minute. Nine minutes later, his goal would, without a doubt, sink Italy. And to add insult to injury (sorry 'bout the pun, Mr. Thiago Motta. It wasn't intended...), Chelsea's Juan Mata scores another goal for Spain, winning the match 4-0.
A bit of trickery from Torres draws Keeper Buffon out and helps Mata score for Spain 4-0.
Video retrieved from youtube.com. Video uploaded by Mehran Ravanbod.
With that, Spain silences its critics in breath-taking fashion. They were certainly not boring, not by a long shot. And they're lack of a striker is justified. The're style may have been blasted throughout the media in the recent days, but that brought them to their third consecutive trophy.
Congratulations to Spain for their well-deserved crown. Will there be 4th in a row? With what they just showed us, that is not unlikely.
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