Spain Reign

A superior Spanish side beat the Germans one-nil in Sunday's final of the Euro 2008 tournament, with Fernando Torres netting the game's lone goal on 33' to bring Spain their first major title since winning the 1964 version of the same competition.

Spain were better throughout, and Torres had headed off of the base of German 'keeper Jens Lehmann's post ten minutes earlier. After some patient buildup play at the back by the Spaniards, the ball found Brazilian expat Marcos Senna in the center circle. Senna quickly played the ball directly forward to the officially recognized player of the tournament Xavi, who at once pivoted and threaded a pass forward to Torres, who in turn let the ball run past him and outmuscled pursuing German left-back Philipp Lahm as he drove toward goal.

Lehmann came off his line and nearly got his hands to the ball, but Torres deftly dinked it over his diving form to send it goalward, and in it trickled in at the same far post off of which Torres' headed ball had caromed ten minutes earlier.

Apart from a very threatening spell of about 15 minutes from the increasingly desperate Germans that began near the hour mark, Spain were easily better on both the day and throughout the competition than their opponents, who rode their luck at times over the recent three weeks and appeared to have run out of steam at the last hurdle --indeed, notwithstanding their status in some quarters as pre-tournament favorites for reasons of geography as much as anything else (the tournament was played in neighboring Austria and Switzerland), it would not be unfair to say that they overachieved a bit in going as far as they did.

Spain are a top quality side who play attractive, attacking football and can pass the ball as well as any national side these days. They have youth going for them, and they at one blow have shaken the label of chronic underachievers on the big stage. Now bouyed by their ultimate tournament success and justifiably confident, they should be a force at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, for which the long road to qualification out of the European federation begins with group play in September.

They're in a comparatively manageable qualifying group of six with Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia, and they'll qualify automatically for the final tournament if they top their group; a second place finish likely would suffice to entitle them to play off over two legs with another second-place finisher from a different group for a berth in the final tournament. Should be quite the ride, and we'll have total coverage right here.