Match Date: 1 July 2012

Pre-Match

There was a lot of talk after Vincente del Bosque was going to play a proper forward like Torres after he said in his press conference that Spain were going to play with three forwards. As I said in my preview to this game though, del Bosque would most likely call Fabregas a forward even if everyone else is going to call him a false 9, so it was to be seen who he would trust. In the end, the nod went to Fabregas, understandably so after having a good tournament. Italy remained largely unchanged with exception to Abate who replaced Balzaretti at left back. With this, Italy was again expected to play a very narrow midfield four, like they did against Germany, to try to disrupt the rhythm of Spain’s play.

1st Half

Spain started the match very well and at a much quicker pace than really any other game they’ve played in the tournament. Even with this noticeably higher tempo, they were still able to keep possession very well and the high tempo and possession paid off as Xavi came close from good combination play with Fabregas at around ten minutes in. However, it was in the 14th minute, when Alonso picked up the ball on the left side of the pitch within Spain’s half and played a perfect 70 yard pass to Arbeloa who was standing about 30 yards from Italy’s goal on the right of the pitch without an Italian defender anywhere near him. From this Arbeloa played the ball to Xavi who played it forward to Iniesta who then slotted a ball in behind Chiellini (who has struggle with a hamstring injury this tournament), to Fabregas who got just around the Italian defender to chip the ball into the path of David Silva who scored a great header. Thirteen minutes in, Spain had their goal which was assisted by their false 9. After the goal though, Spain’s pace slowed a bit. While they were still able to retain possession, they were allowing Italy to get forward a bit more, who had their first really good chance through Cassano, but Casillas punched away. The game continued to have an ebb and flow, with Spain losing possession more than usual and Italy applying some pressure. This all fell apart though five minutes from half time when Jordi Alba played the ball to Xavi and then made a great run through the Italian defense and collected a perfect pass from Xavi to finish as good as any striker. Just as with the first goal, Italy had a chance to quickly response, but Casillas again punched away a shot, this time from Montolivo just before half time.

2nd Half

Prandelli had to make changes before the start of the second half and so he brought on Di Natale for Cassano, leaving Prandelli with only one more change available (Chiellini was subbed soon after Spain’s first goal due to an injury). It wasn’t long into the second half when Di Natale had his first chance, but it came to nothing as he headed over the bar. A few minutes later, Alonso again opened up the Italian defense with another great long ball to find Silva who then played the ball to the top of the box to Xavi in acres of space but the Barcelona man chose to pass rather than shot and the chance went begging. Di Natale had another good chance in the 51st minute, but he shot right at Casillas, who, not for the the first time in the match, put the ball back into the middle of play, this one going back to Di Natale who again missed an opportunity to pull one back for Italy. Five minutes later, Prandelli made his final change bringing on Motta for Montolivo, but this proved to be costly as minutes later, Motta had to be stretchered off with a hamstring injury leaving Italy with only 10 men and about a half hour to play. Spain dominated the game after this, bringing on Torres in the 75th minute who got his goal in the 83rd through another assist by Xavi. Mata came on in the 87th and grabbed his own goal, assisted by Torres. The referee blew his whistle in the third minute of stoppage time and Spain became champions of Europe again.

Conclusion

Italy were never really given a real chance to win this game and Spain’s class really showed. Their determination to score a quick, early goal showed as they started this game faster than any other in the tournament. We saw against Portugal that if you really try hard to put pressure on Spain’s back line, they won’t have time to play short passes into the midfield and will be forced to play the long ball, something they are not suited for, especially when playing a false 9. Italy could have tried this, but perhaps relied a bit too much on the idea that they could win the ball back easily in midfield and play from there, and while they did have very even possession stats with Spain, it proved not to work.

Some History

-Spain become the first team to defend their European triumph and to win three major tournaments in a row.

-Vincente del Bosque becomes the first manager to win the World Cup, European Championship, and Champions League.

-Fernando Torres becomes the first player to score in two Euro finals and the most expensive player ever to start on the bench in three major cup finals in the same year.