Euro 2012 Final as it happened: Spain are the champions again

93 mins: Congratulations to Spain, they have become the first team to win 3 straight major titles & the first to win back-to-back EURO titles. Italy were brave. Spain were better. Much better. The Armada rolls on, it cannot be stopped. Four goals – Silva headed Spain into the lead after 14 mins, Jordi Alba doubled the lead after 41 mins.Torres and Mata added the third and fourth respectively. Pirlo wasn’t a factor. Xavi was. And Spain’s amazing record in finals continues. Spain 4 - 0 Italy. Now just wait for the calls of how Spain have started making football boring. Just kidding. They were amazing tonight. No nerves at all. This was Casillas’ 79th shutout in international games. Remarkable. Italy seemed tired, Spain were awesome. Nuff said. Off twitter: @TheVijayMallya has us in a tizzy… Need my McDowell Mohun Bagan and Kingfisher East Bengal football teams to take a few tips and play like the Spanish. 90 mins: Three minutes of extra time. But does it matter. It’s over. Spain are the champions… again. 88 mins: Spain 4 - 0 Italy. This is embarrassing now. It really is. Balotelli doesn’t know where to look. Torres made a superb run and then laid off the ball superbly for Mata, who merely had to slot it in. Ole Ole Ole…. and Ole. 86 mins: Iniesta off. Mata on. It’s a party now. And everyone’s getting a go. 84 mins: Torres makes it 3-0. He had just come on and he made it look easy, slotting it past a helpless Buffon. Good run. It was Torres’ 34th goal for Spain and he adds to his goal from the 2008 final to seal the title. Ah… too easy. Spain can now start celebrating. There can be no doubt now. They are going to become the first side ever to win two Euro titles and a World Cup on the trot. Off twitter: @InfostradaLive… Iker Casillas is on the verge of winning his 100th international match, becoming the first player ever to reach this milestone. 79 mins: Spain are enjoying this too much. And 10-man Italy are probably just hoping this ends soon. Pirlo has not been a factor today and there has just not been enough passes for the forwards. 75 mins: Fabregas going off. He had a good game, had the assist for the first goal. Fernando Torres comes on for him and what do you know… Spain actually have strikers on the field. 68 mins: The crowd is starting to boo and whistle a bit as Spain dominate possession but this is just spectacular. This is probably the total football that even the famous Dutch teams couldn’t play. 65 mins: Still no Motta. Italy are still down to 10-men and they still have no goal. Spain are now slowing it down – possession football again. Ah, this feels like it’s over now. If you are a Spanish supporter, then start celebrating. 61 mins: It doesn’t look good at all. Motta seems to have pulled a hamstring and has to be stretched off. Italy have already made their three substitutions, so they will be hoping he can come back on. Disaster if he can’t. 58 mins: Silva is off the park now. Pedro Rodriguez take his place. Both coaches, ringing in the changes now. Italy have already made their three changes. 57 mins: Thiago Motta comes on for the rather ineffectual Montolivo. 54 mins: Fabregas should have made that 3-0. He got through three defenders but then poor control saw him give the ball away. Really close chance. 53 mins: Another super save by Casillas. Natale the striker again. He has made an impact since he has come on but it takes something special to beat Saint Iker in knockout games. Off twitter: ‏@ESPNStatsInfo… Only 1 team has scored 3 goals in a EURO final: West Germany beat USSR 3-0 in 1972. 46 mins: Di Natale, who had scored against Spain earlier in the tournament, is on and almost within 60 seconds has an immediate impact. A header went just over the bar but it looked like Casillas had that covered. Half-time: SUBSTITUTION Di Natale is on. He has replaced Cassano. Half-time: Spain 2 - Italy 0. Well, no one can accuse Spain of being boring this time round. Two classic goals and this without a proper striker. Italy have been brave. They have looked to attack but that in turn opens up holes in their defense and Spain have taken full advantage of that. Engaging game so far. For those who are expecting a comeback remember Spain has not allowed a goal in nine straight knockout games dating back to Euro 2008. And here’s a stat to shock: The UEFA site show that Spain have had lesser possession than Italy. Only marginally but still. 41 mins: Spain are on their way. Jordi Alba’s brilliant run from the deep was picked up by Xavi and Buffon had no chance. Spain 2 - Italy 0. No wonder Barcelona were prepared to pay 14m Euros for this man. What a run! So still boring? 38 mins: First shot from Balo, nowhere near as accurate as it was against the Germans. Straight into the crowd. 32 mins: Pirlo’s not really been able to pull the strings today. Everytime he has the ball, the Spanish midfielders are onto him in a jiffy. But the few times, he does get it… he looks dangerous. And even as we debate that, Saint Iker comes to Spain’s rescue once again – keeping out a low stinging shot from Antonio Cassano again. Balotelli’s not really been in the game. 27 mins: Great ball in from Balzaretti. It was headed for Balotelli and Casillas had to come off his line to make an interception. It was a clean one though. Good sign for Italy – their players still believe they are in the game and Spain haven’t resorted to possession football yet. And by the way, David Silva has now been directly involved in five goals at Euro 2012 (2 goals, 3 assists), more than any other player this tournament. 25 mins: YELLOW CARD Pique becomes the first player to get a yellow card. Deserved it. The Italians weren’t faking it. 22 mins: SUBSTITUTION Chiellini is off. Looks like the hamstring again. Balzaretti takes his place and he has had a good tournament so far. But Italy are struggling to cope with Spain’s pace so far. This is much more direct. Spain aren’t playing around today. [caption id=“attachment_363431” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Silva scored the first goal for Spain. AP”]  [/caption] Off twitter: @InfostradaLive Spain have won their last 61 matches in which they scored the opening goal since a 3-2 defeat at Northern Ireland in Sep 2006. ‏@ESPNStatsInfo: Only 3 teams have lost a EURO Final after scoring first: 2000 Italy, 1996 Czech Republic, 1960 Yugoslavia. 14 mins: GOAL!!!! Super goal from the Spanish. The move started with Xavi, then to Iniesta, who gave a lovely through ball to Fabregas, who fought off Giorgio Chiellini to put in a superbly weighed cross to Silva. It was a super goal. From 6 yards out, there was no way Silva would have missed. Guess this should spice up the game a bit. First time Italy have trailed in this tournament. Spain 1 - Italy 0 Off twitter:@Carles5puyol Vamoooooos!!!!! 10 mins: Spain settling into that familiar rhythm now. Italy have already fallen deep into defense now. Xavi took a shot, then Iniesta but the possession remains with the Armada. Then a good shot from Xavi, around 18 yards out, just went over the bar to bring an end to the move. Spain looking more dangerous with every possession. 7 mins: First corner of the match for Spain but Sergio Ramos’ header zoomed over the bar. It was also Spain’s first real attack, came off a nice move from Silva on the left flank. But Chielleni was alert. And believe it or not, there are still empty seats in the stadium. They could have sent us the tickets!!! Off twitter: @GrantWahl… I was expecting theatrics between Balotelli and Piqué–instead we’re getting Balotelli and Ramos going back and forth. 4 mins: Italians have already had more possession than most sides manage against Spain in the early stages. They are closing down the ball well and trying to make a scrap of it. Power to them. 1 min: Spain playing from left to right. Pirlo went for goal but it was well wide of the target. Pre-match Without any doubt, Spain and Italy have been the best sides in Euro 2012. Defensively, Spain have been superb – they have conceded just one goal in the tournament so far. Italy, on the other hands, have never trailed in the tournament. Two simply facts but when they are allied with the wonderful game that the two sides played out earlier in the tournament, one can be sure that the final will be riveting. [caption id=“attachment_363398” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Italy’s supporters cheer prior to the Euro 2012 soccer championship final. AP”]  [/caption] Spain have changed the way they play football. No strikers and six midfielders mean that they are always tough to break down. If they score first expect Italy to attack more and then again that might leave a few gaps in defense. Italy, on the other hand, have been aggressive while going forward and they will need Mario Balotelli to be at his best. Match facts - Spain are the second European side to reach the final of three consecutive major tournaments, after West Germany (Euro 72, World Cup 74, Euro 76). - Spain haven’t conceded a single goal in their last 900 minutes of action in major tournament knockout games, a streak which started in the quarter finals of Euro 2008. - Italy and Spain are facing each other for the 31st time in their history. The Italians hold the advantage with 10 wins to Spain’s eight. 12 draws complete the picture. - Italy are unbeaten against Spain at major tournaments (penalties shoot-outs excluded), with three wins and four draws. LINE-UPS Spain: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas, Iniesta. Subs: Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Juanfran, Pedro, Torres, Negredo, Mata, Llorente, Santi Cazorla, Jesus Navas, Reina. Italy: Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo, De Rossi, Balotelli, Cassano. Subs: Sirigu, Maggio, Ogbonna, Thiago Motta, Balzaretti, Di Natale, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, Diamanti, Nocerino, De Sanctis. Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)