by Jamie Trecker

Updated: July 1, 2008, 1:39 PM EST 86 comments

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Overcoming 44 years of frustration with a dogged hour and a half performance in which they comprehensively outplayed a disengaged German team, Spain's young guns emphatically put their stamp on what has been one of the best European Championships ever staged.

If the final did not match the tournament as a whole for quality and open play, what artistry was on display came from the new champions. In so doing, Spain proved that their emerging talent might finally be in position to make a stern challenge soccer's old guard for a place among the international elite.

They will need to do it again at the World Cup level before the doubters — many of them longtime followers of La Seleccion — will be finally put to rest, but on this particular Sunday and over this past month, coach Luis Aragones proved that when Spain gets it right, they can be compared to the very best.

Aside from a flurry at the hour mark where Germany briefly looked dangerous, Spain's victory never looked in doubt. Put bluntly, Spain proved that earlier performances in this tournament had not been a fluke by producing a game plan that gave the Germans no time or space on the ball, and few gaps in which to move.

With Michael Ballack clearly struggling from a calf injury, and Bastian Schweinsteiger effectively bottled up by a taut Spanish defense, the Germans were unable to do what they do best — move the ball quickly and impose themselves physically on opponents. Every pass looked ragged today from the Germans, and the failure of Christopher Metzelder to hold the back line and the inability to relieve the Spanish midfield pressure were ultimately what cost them the game.

Spain also prospered at the feet of two players who had struggled throughout the tournament — Torres and Andres Iniesta. With Aragones choosing to field Cesc Fabregas as a dummy, Iniesta was free to roam for the first time in the tournament, and Germany had neither the vision nor the answers to contain him. He showed his sharpness in just the 14th minute, when Jens Lehmann was forced to parry away a clearance that deflected off the bemused Metzelder nearly into his own net. Surging down the left flank and spraying crosses through an increasingly saggy back four, Iniesta was a constant creative threat who kept Germany's backs from getting forward at all.

Torres scored what would be the winner just past the half hour mark, latching on to a pass out from the halfway line by Xavi, and plain outmuscling Philipp Lahm to chip the ball over Lehmann. It was a perfectly executed bit of poaching, equal parts class finishing and pure speed. Some will criticize Lehmann for not coming out to the ball quickly enough, but few could have stopped Torres on that dead run, and he deservedly capitalized.

Germany, usually so resilient in these situations, was further taken out of their rhythm when Ballack suffered a bad cut near his right eye following a clash of heads with Marcos Senna in the 35th minute. It would prove to be a game-changing moment, because Germany would run out the half without ever really mounting an effective response.

Joachim Loew's only move at intermission was to replace Lahm with Marcell Jansen, and for a brief time, Germany finally looked discerning. Schweinsteiger gave the Germans what would be their best chance when he fed Ballack after catching Carlos Puyol out, but the captain's shot had no real power and finished wide.

Klose would get a header off against Iker Casillas two minutes later, but despite some decent movement and control on the part of the Germans, it became increasingly clear that if Germany was going to seize back the momentum, they had to score swiftly. They did not, and the end game was all Spanish.

Iniesta swung the pendulum back for good when he drilled a shot in off a corner that forced Torsten Frings to clear off his line. Iniesta would get another chance, but Lehmann stifled that as well. By continuing to attack — even though some of Aragones' substitutions suggested defense was clearly on his mind — the champions prevented the Germans from regaining any momentum over the closing stages.

In fact, Germany did not get another solid look at the Spanish net, and Senna might have added a second goal had David Guiza's cross in the 81st minute not drifted just away from him, in front of an open net.

This was the poorest performance for Die Mannschaft in a final since their negative — yet winning — performance against Argentina in the 1990 World Cup, but it was a failure of tactics and ideas rather than of effort. Germany were allowed to run all they cared to, but never to establish a pattern, and in the end, Spain left them ragged.

By never allowing the Germans to settle in comfortably on the ball, Spain disarmed what had been the Germans' greatest weapon — persistence and power. Instead, they found themselves forced into a running game, with Spain constantly forcing retreat by poking balls over the back to the onrushing Torres.

On the other end, Spain's 4-5-1 collapsed so often into a six-man back line that Ballack and Schweinsteiger were never able to find any open passing lanes and such was the Spanish skill at running the trap that on the rare occasions a German forward could get the ball, there was little chance he'd be onside when he received it.

German fans should be troubled by this team's tactical failings. Germany had been confronted in this tournament by teams that looked to negate their passing and off-ball movement, as Croatia did to great effect, and yet they never seemed to develop a backup plan. There were no ideas on the field, and Loew had no answers from his bench.

How much Ballack's pre-game injury cost the Germans will probably not be known, but only the most uncharitable fan would deny the Spaniards their glory tonight.

They showed their mettle repeatedly against top opposition. The fact that they escaped the Italians, deadened what had been a ferocious Russian team, and then closed down a fine German side showed that they had the answers to a variety of problems.

In so doing they took a major step toward casting off their biggest problem — the weight of history.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY: History isn't everything. This tournament showed how important the here and now is.

BIGGEST MOMENT: Torres' winner was enough, and one of the lovelier goals of the tournament to boot.

HERO OF THE DAY: Andres Iniesta, who steered his team to the crown.

GOAT OF THE DAY: Christoph Metzelder ran out a miserable tournament with a shockingly inchoate game.

TOMORROW: Nada. That's the end of the European Championship ... but not our coverage. Check back tomorrow as the Fox team wraps everything up!

NEWS OF THE DAY(S):

Sepp Blatter today officially confirmed to journalists that a "Plan B" to relocate the 2010 World Cup exists. The existence of such a plan has been known since the 2006 World Cup, but repeatedly denied by SAWOC. Earlier in the week, South Africa's Danny Jordaan once again denied the existence of such a plan, calling it "ignorance." South Africa has been plagued by construction problems, security fears, transport and infrastructure worries. Both Australia and the USA have been reported to be interested in the "backup" host role should the Cup need to be moved.

Euro 2008 - Final

Sun., Jun. 29
Germany 0-1 Spain	Recap
Euro Final Photos | Standings

UEFA announced that it would make a decision on the Ukraine/Poland 2012 European Championship in September. UEFA had previously said that it would begin a review of the tournament hosts' troubled preparations July 3. In related news, unofficially, there seems to be a consensus that the Euorpean Championships will expand by eight teams to 24 nations by 2016.

Big bonuses: Turkish players will get €450,000 each for their performances at Euro 2008. Croatia's players will get €300,000 each. In contrast, German players would have gotten €250,000 each for a win today while Spain's players netted €214,000 each. Russian players have already received €120,000 apiece, and a glowing welcome in Moscow.

Turkey said coach Fatih Terim isn't going anywhere. Terim had told his players and the press he was planning to step down, but the Turkish Fed made it clear they wanted their coach to stay on through 2010. Spain's Luis Aragones isn't so lucky. He will be heading to Turkey to coach club side Fenerbahce, and he ripped the Spanish Fed on Saturday, claiming they had never approached him about an extension.

Aging back Lilian Thuram's career may be over. The Frenchman has been diagnosed with a serious heart problem which ko'd his move to Paris Saint-Germain. Thuram's brother, Antonio, died of a similar heart problem in the 1990s.

Croatia's Federation was fined close to $20,000 by UEFA after some of their fans displayed a racist banner during the Turkey quarterfinal match in Vienna.

Sweden's Freddie Ljungberg announced his retirement from international football. Ljungberg went out on a high note: He was one of the better players on a weak Swedish side that exited in the group stage.

In totally unrelated-to-Euro-2008-news, but included here because it is hilarious, Costa Rica sacked their coach, Hernan Medford on Friday. Medford was quoted as saying: "At last I am free."

	EuroTrecker 2008 Archives:
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