Spain is the champion of European soccer once again, ending a 44-year drought with a convincing 1–0 victory over Germany last Sunday in Vienna, Austria. The Spanish victory is a triumph for soccer as it is meant to be played—the beautiful game. Soccer fans around the world can now forget the defensive-minded performance of Greece in 2004. There is another way to win a major soccer trophy!
The Spanish media gave the team rave reviews. "Spain conquers Europe and opens a new era in Spanish football [soccer]," said Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo. "The best team won the tournament and with a more beautiful style of football [soccer] than any other," the sports daily AS wrote. Germany's Bild newspaper said on Monday, "Spain was simply better."
The Spanish Primera Liga is one of the top three soccer leagues in the world so it should come as no surprise that Spain is able to field teams featuring some of the most talented players in the world. But the last time Spain reached a semifinal of either the World Cup or European Championship was back in 1984—simply too long for a nation with one of the best leagues in the world.
The Spanish successfully stuck to their attacking tactics, intricate passing game, and solid defense to win their second European soccer title. They are the only team to have won all of their matches en route to the title. Spain has undoubtedly shaken its tag as chokers and international underachievers with this monumental victory.
The Professor
Spain's 69-year old coach Luis Aragones deserves an enormous amount of credit for winning this title. Aragones had come under intense scrutiny for racist comments made about Thierry Henry. He was almost fired on more than one occasion including after Spain's indifferent start in the qualifying tournament where they lost two of their first three games.
But Aragones moved forward, made the important decision to leave out iconic Real Madrid striker, Raul (who is Spain's all-time leading goal scorer), and prior to the tournament, had his team meet the 1964 European Championship-winning Spanish team that triumphed over the U.S.S.R. This inspirational meeting must have given them a boost as they started the tournament with an emphatic 4–1 win over Russia.
Xavi
Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez was named as the top player of Euro 2008. "He epitomizes the Spanish style of play. He's extremely influential in passing and the possession game that Spain plays," said UEFA's technical director Andy Roxburgh.
Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, and David Silva all have similar stature and fantastic technical skills. They are essentially interchangeable in the creative midfielder role.
Brazilian-born Marcos Senna played the holding midfielder role, sitting just in front of the defense. He had an outstanding tournament and nearly scored in the final against Germany.
David Villa missed the final due to injury but his four goals were good enough to win the Golden Boot as tournament top-scorer. Fernando Torres, who had an indifferent tournament until the final, formed a dynamic strike force with Villa.
Spain also got through a psychological test by beating the Italians in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
Other Notes
Euro 2008 will go down as one of the best tournaments in recent memory for a couple of reasons. Attacking soccer triumphed over defensive soccer and the sportsmanship was much better than in previous years.
The Dutch struck the first high note of the tournament with a resounding 3–0 victory over world champion Italy. They followed that up by thumping France 4–1. Aging, ponderous teams like France and Sweden were soon shown the door by attack-minded teams like the Dutch and the Russians.
Turkey probably generated the most excitement with their improbable victories over the Czech Republic and Croatia. Turkey was down two goals with about 15 minutes remaining when the comeback began. Against Croatia, they scored the equalizer with less than a minute to play, and then won the game on penalty kicks. With a skeleton crew, Turkey then gave Germany all they could handle in the semifinals before losing in the dying seconds 3–2. Turkey coach Fatih Terim delivered something nobody could've expected.
Russia's trip to the semifinals gave us a closer look at budding superstars Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Coach Guus Hiddink continued to work his magic, taking a team that barely qualified past the Dutch into the quarterfinals.
But this tournament is all about Spain. Spain never showed a hint of self-doubt, was able to score the big goal when needed, displayed precision passing, and efficient defending. Let's hope other nations take note of this winning formula and performance.
Feeds