2012 Euro Cup Final: Spain 4-0 Italy

Monday, July 2, 2012 Report by Rajarshi Ghosh

Spain have been crowned Euro 2012 champions after a record-breaking 4-0 victory over Italy in the final.

La Roja's victory at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, added to their Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 successes, makes them the first team in history to win three major international tournaments in a row. David Silva opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour with a header, before a lung-busting run and finish from Jordi Alba put Spain two goals ahead by half-time.

The second half saw chances for both teams, but the match changed on the hour mark after Thiago Motta was strechered off moments after coming off the bench, reducing Italy to 10 men with all three substitutions already used.

 There was no way back for the Azzurri after that, as Spain put on a passing exhibition to drain the life out of Cesare Prandelli's men. With time running out, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata added clinchers in
the 84th and 88th minutes respectively to capture the European Championship for La Roja for the third time. The milestones continued to fall for Spain, with 13 members of their squad becoming the first players to play in and win two Euro finals, while Torres' late goal gave him the Golden Boot.