Spain At Last - Euro 2008

A fantastic two weeks of International football at Euro 2008, came to an end last night when Spain beat Germany 1-o in the final of the competition, to win the Euro trophy.

Spain began the tournament among the favourites, but still carrying the tag of 'under achievers' similar to England , after losing out during the final stages of recent International competitions.

The first group game against Russia was among the best of the competition, with Russia often matching the accurate passing game of Spain, if lacking the flair and quality. Spain's 4-1 victory was non the less well deserved and spelled out a clear message that Spain were taking the tournament very seriously.

Even when Aragones resorted to his second eleven for the last group game, Spain still looked outrageously good, and beat Sweden more comfortably than the 2-1 score suggests.

Holland, Croatia and Portugal also looked impressive during the group stages, the Dutch in particular played some excellent football. But against the odds each of them fell at the quarter finals leaving Spain to beat Russia a second time to progress to the final, and Germany seeing off a spirited Turkish team to join them.

Spain v Germany provided an excellent advert for football, with chances for both teams throughout the game. The quality and wonderful football of Spain deservedly winning the game and the tournament.

This Spanish team is up there with the best I have seen at International level and they still have some very exciting youngsters at under 17 &21 waiting in the wings.