Spain slay their demons

Football was the winner - that8217;s one of the most over-worn cliches in the game. It happened to be true about Spain8217;s...

Football was the winner 8211; that8217;s one of the most over-worn cliches in the game. It happened to be true about Spain8217;s victory in Euro 2008 though. The connoisseurs will be able to sit back in years to come and simply say that the best team won what was one of the most entertaining and aesthetically pleasing football tournaments of recent times.

What made Spain8217;s 1-0 victory over football superpower Germany so satisfying was the manner in which it was achieved. A team of highly talented footballers played the game as it was meant to be played 8212; with the ball at their feet 8212; and drew on their full repertoire of skills to overcome a series of worthy opponents to take European football8217;s greatest prize. Spain did the game another service in that they finally cast aside the label of perennial underachievers that had dogged them since they won their only other trophy, the European Championship in 1964.

8220;At last justice has been done and the team that played the best football won the tournament,8221; said Fernando Torres who decided the game with a superbly taken goal that combined the guile and pace which has characterised the Spanish game in the tournament.

8216;The bull or the bullfighter8217;

ARGENTINE World Cup winning coach Cesar Menotti once famously said that Spain would never win anything at international level until they decided if they wanted to be 8220;the bull or the bullfighter8221;. Scores of previous Spanish teams have been caught between the two stools, but the 2008 vintage, managed by Luis Aragones, opted firmly for the latter. Watching Spain8217;s cohort of little men use their skill and bravery to tease and torment a succession of physically intimidating opponents would have given bullfighting aficionados as much pleasure as anything they could ever see in the ring.

With Xavi setting the rhythm, his fellow midfielders Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas unpicked the defences, opponents while up front strikers Torres and David Villa delivered the coup de grace with consummate style.

Lack of baggage

ARAGONES8217;S skilful young team had clearly not read the script about Spain8217;s reputation for choking on the big stage. One of the reasons why was that this team is full of players who have no experience or no complexes about supposed underachievement.

Torres, for example, has been accustomed to beating the so-called big guns of European football at youth level. After all he scored the winning goals in the finals of the Under-16 and Under-19 European championships against France and then Germany in 2001 and 2002. Xavi, defender Carlos Marchena and captain Iker Casillas were all members of the Spain side that won the youth World Cup in Nigeria in 1999.

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What also made the difference was Aragones. The 69-year-old coach gave youth its head. He showed faith in his young charges, let them play the sort of football they wanted and used all the experience and expertise of over half a century in the game to build a team spirit and winning mentality that was more than a match for teams like Italy and Germany. 8220;Lots of people have looked at this Spain as a model of how football should be played,8221; Aragones said after the game, his last in charge before stepping down. 8220;It is a happy day for Spain because we8217;ve won the Euro in brilliant fashion.8221;

Few football fans would 8212; or could 8212; argue with him.

Six Spaniards in Euro8217;s top 23

SIX Spaniards made it to the Team of the tournament released by UEFA on Monday. Spain captain Iker Casillas, defenders Sergio Ramos and Carlos Puyol apart from midfielder Cesc Fabregas made it to the first XI, while Marcos Senna and David Villa were named among the substitutes.

TEAM: Iker Casillas Spain, Sergio Ramos Spain, Giorgio Chiellini Italy, Carles Puyol Spain, Yuri Zhirkov Russia, Bastian Schweinsteiger Germany, Cesc Fabregas Spain, Wesley Sneijder Netherlands, Michael Ballack Germany, Lukas Podolski Germany, Andrei Arshavin Russia.

Substitutes: Edwin van der Sar Netherlands, Philipp Lahm Germany, Pepe Portugal, Marcos Senna Spain, David Villa Spain.