Spain sinks Italy 4-0 for Euro title

Spain rediscovered their magic on July 01 to beat ailing Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and with it became the first nation to win three big football titles in a row.

David Silva (14th), Jordi Alba (41st), Fernando Torres (84th) and Juan Mata (88th) were on target as Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta pulled the strings in midfield in their usual commanding style after some slightly below-par performances earlier in the tournament.

Spain became the first team to get a big event hat-trick following titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with the biggest winning margin in a final, are the first to win back-to-back Euro titles and matched Germany’s record three continental titles, the first being in 1964.

Italy, who had held Spain 1-1 in their opening group match and made a surprise run to the final with a 2-1 victory over Germany in the semis, failed to end a 44-year drought since their only Euro trophy in 1968.

Torres wins Euro 2012 Golden Boot

Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot as Euro 2012 top-scorer thanks to a goal and an assist in the final eight minutes of Spain’s 4-0 victory over Italy in  final.

Torres finished with three goals and an assist along with Germany striker Mario Gomez, but played less minutes than his rival, which is the tiebreak criteria of the ruling body UEFA.

The Chelsea striker Torres scored in the 84th minute of the final and fed Juan Mata in the 88th. His earlier two goals came in the other 4-0 win over Ireland in the group stage.

Torres succeeds injured teammate David Villa, who was top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals.

Apart from Torres and Gomez, Italy’s Mario Balotelli, Alan Dzagoev of Russia, Mario Mandzukic of Croatia and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal also scored three goals at Euro 2012.