Victory for La Furia Roja
After successive victories at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, the Spanish might have been described as becoming accustomed to celebrating major international wins. But there was no let-up in the nation’s joy as their national team returned from Kiev to Madrid the day after their 4-0 final win against Italy in Euro 2012.
King Juan Carlos of Spain was among those paying tribute to the performance of La Furia Roja (The Red Fury). “You have given everyone in Spain so much happiness,” he said at the victory ceremony in the Spanish capital, “not just because you won, but because you are brilliant people. You knew how to win and how to behave as a team.”
Spain might have made it look easy, but they faced a rocky road to victory in Poland and Ukraine. In the group stage, they could only rack up one convincing win (a 4-0 trouncing of the Boys in Green), with their match against eventual fellow finalists Italy ending in a one-all draw, and advanced purely by squeaking past Croatia with a last-minute goal by Jesús Navas.
In the quarter-finals La Roja looked stronger in beating France 2-0, but only thanks to Spanish manager Vicente del Bosque again drafting in midfielder Cesc Fabregas as a striker. This new system of the ‘false nine’ was successful for the Spanish team, although many experts criticised Del Bosque’s idea to play without a dedicated striker.
Come the semi-final and Spain had to work very hard to reach the last stage. The ‘false nine’ failed to work against Portugal, with a no-score draw after extra time taking both teams into a penalty shoot-out that Spain survived 4-2.
After all that hard work, it was time for the final. In the first half Spain demonstrated their will to win, with David Silva scoring in the 14th minute with a header and Jordi Alba kicking in a second just before half-time.
The second half was a demonstration of Spanish power, especially in the last six minutes with goals apiece from Fernando Torres and Juan Mata, to complete their dominance of the overwhelmed Italians.
Iker Casillas, goalkeeper and proud captain of La Roja, thanked all fans for their support over the recent years of success, declaring it an honour and a pleasure to lead the team to yet another victory on the world stage.
