Spain beats Germany 1-0 to win European Championship title

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-30  |     ONLINE EDITION

1/2   Spain's David Villa, holding the trophy, celebrates with teammates after the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain in the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, yesterday, the last day of the European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Spain defeated Germany 1-0. More in photo gallery

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FERNANDO Torres finally lived up to his billing as one of the world's great strikers yesterday by scoring to give Spain a 1-0 win over Germany and the European Championship title.

Torres, who had been overshadowed by teammate David Villa all tournament, scored in the 33rd minute of the final to down the three-time European champions and earn his nation's first major title in 44 years.

Touching a sliding pass from Xavi Hernandez past Philipp Lahm, Torres ran past his marker on the opposite side, collected the ball and lifted a shot over sliding goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and into the far corner.

"Fernando is a great player," Spain coach Luis Aragones said. "He can go anywhere. Why not? He really has extra speed, he knows how to dribble and we always tell him he is so young he can learn everything and be one of the best players in the world, no doubt."

Spain had more chances but Torres' goal was enough to give the country its first title since the 1964 European Championship.

"We had some good matches, but the Spaniards were constantly good throughout out the tournament and played at a very high level," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "So they deserve to be champions."

In the end, Spain was a deserved winner of the 13th European Championship. Long known as an underachiever that peaked between tournaments rather than at them, the team reached the final at Ernst Happel Stadium with a string of beguiling attacking displays orchestrated by a vibrant midfield, and held true to its values in the highest pressure match.

"I hope this is good for football as well as for Spain, because the best team won," Torres said. "This is not always the case. We are doubly happy."

Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva swapped positions constantly against a midfield marshaled by Michael Ballack and eventually wore out their opponents until it seemed Spain was simply counting down time until the final whistle.