Goal! Weekly Article 23: EURO 2008

SPANISH SUPREMACY
By Julius Ross

Although much of the hype surrounding the European Championships has diminished over the past couple of weeks, Spain will be celebrating the end of 44 years of heartbreak for many years to come.

After their emphatic triumph in Austria and Switzerland added only a second European Championship to the national side’s trophy cabinet and first since 1964, Spanish fans across the country revelled in wild celebrations on return of their national heroes.

The party commenced within the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna, Austria, where the Spanish players celebrated in the change rooms, spraying champagne on team-mates and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, who had come to congratulate his nation’s stars after their triumph over Germany.

In Spain, millions of Spanish supporters spilled out onto the streets in a sea of red and yellow, to celebrate a rare accomplishment in their country’s cursed history.

Tens of thousands continued the celebrations into the next day, missing their work commitments to party along to the chants of ‘ESPANA! ESPANA!’, ‘OLE, OLE, OLE’ and ‘CAMPEONES, CAMPEONES.’

Wrapped in Spanish Flags or dressed as their nation’s icon, the bullfighter, revellers set off fireworks and danced upon car rooftops to the beeping of car horns.

The Plaza de Colon in the Spanish capital of Madrid was the place to be the next day after the Final triumph, as the nation’s stars returned from Vienna holding the silver cup aloft on touchdown.

An open top bus tour, a special tribute from the Spanish Air Force and numerous speeches saw the triumphant Spanish side cheered on by huge crowds, as the Henri Delaunay trophy touched down in Madrid.

As the young and talented side appeared wearily and exhausted from the aircraft after a long night of celebration, it was clearly apparent that the side was far from their physical peak that they were in at the start of the tournament three weeks earlier.

Placed in Group D and seeded 12th in the competition, Spain made short work of their group opponents on their way to lifting the trophy.

Luis Aragones’ side commenced the tournament in sensational style, with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Guus Hiddink’s Russia, with Golden Boot winner David Villa netting a fantastic hat-trick.

Sweden and Greece provided little resistance for the Spanish, with the side collecting maximum points in Group D with two consecutive 2-1 victories against their group opponents.

Playing attacking, free-flowing, one-touch football, Spain were soon making an attractive surge towards the final.

But in the quarter-finals they faced their toughest test; reigning World Cup holders Italy, a side which they had not won against in competitive match since 1920.

But Italy had had a woeful group-stage, and despite holding Spain to a dull 0-0 via highly defensive tactics after extra time, the momentum was with Luis Aragones’ side heading into the penalty shoot-out.

By far the better team on the day, Spain’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas was the shot-out hero, saving two penalties and allowing Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas to seal a 4-2 victory with the final spot kick.

The victory not only broke Spain’s incredible 88-year drought against the Italians, but it also signalled the end of a penalty shoot-out losing streak on the 22 June, with previous losses against Belgium in the 1986 World Cup, England in Euro 1996 and against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup, all on the same date.

With only one match away from the final, Spain was drawn in the semi-finals with giant-killers Russia, who had dispatched of tournament favourite the Netherlands in the quarters.

But as they had done so in the opening match of the tournament, Luis Aragones’ side were ruthless against the Russians, with a fine display by substitute Cesc Fabregas setting up an emphatic 3-0 victory against the European underdogs.

The victory set up an intriguing final between the impressive Spain and three-time winners Germany, who had claimed the scalps of Portugal and Turkey on their way to another final appearance.

Perennial underachievers, the Spanish side was determined not to fail once more at the final hurdle, and completely outclassed the Germans despite missing top scorer Villa through injury.

The 1-0 score line, courtesy of a neat Fernando Torres finish in the 33rd minute, did not do the Spanish side justice, and the score line could easily have been 3-0.

With a total of 12 goals in the tournament, Spain was the top scoring nation, and striker David Villa finished as top goal-scorer with four goals.

Midfielder Xavi Hernadez was awarded Player of the Tournament, due to his reliability and consistency in the middle of the park.

No less than nine Spanish players were chosen in the UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament, illustrating the side’s dominance and ability throughout the three week competition.

Spain also ended the tournament as the only unbeaten side to win since Germany in 1996, and the first side since France in 1984 to win all their group matches and go on to win the tournament.

Spain were further rewarded for their impressive performance at Euro 2008, with FIFA awarding them first place on the FIFA World Rankings two days after their Euro triumph, for the first time in the nation’s history.

Unlike in Euro 2004, where ultra defensive Greece managed to win via negative tactics, Euro 2008 produced a worthy winner in Spain, a true footballing side which displayed sensational ability, positive attacking football and most importantly entertaining skill.