first International trophy for Spain’s La Furia Roja in 44 years.

Spain have beaten Germany 1-0 in the EURO 2008 Final, with Liverpool's Fernando Torres sealing the win with a first-half goal to secure the first International trophy for Spain’s La Furia Roja in 44 years.

The game started at a decent pace, with both sides trying to take the initiative early-on in the game.

Thomas Hitzlsperger had his chance easily saved by Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal early in the first-half, with Michael Ballack fizzing a cross across the goal-mouth soon after, but there were no German players there to meet the cross.

Spain almost took the lead in the 15th minute after Andrés Iniesta’s cross was deflected towards goal by Christoph Metzelder, with Jens Lehmann diving superbly to his right to stop the ball going in.

Spain started to take the ascendancy in the match, with Fernando Torres hitting the post in the 22nd minute with a nice headed attempt, that had Jens Lehmann beaten. Joan Capdevilla’s follow-up shot went wide of goal.

Each of Germany’s attempts were broken down well by the organised Spanish defence, whereas the German defence didn’t seem to fare so well against Spain’s attacks, with Torres and Capdevilla making breaks into the German defence and causing some discomfort to Lehmann and his back-line.

Torres opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after Torres beat Philipp Lahm for pace on the edge of the penalty area, and capped off a superb move by sliding the ball past Jens Lehmann's right hand to make it 1-0 to Spain.

Spain continued to take the game to Germany, with a neat passing move resulting in Iniesta playing David Silva in, who volleyed high over the bar in the 34th minute.

Michael Ballack was injured in a clash of heads with Marcos Senna, with the German captain having to receive treatment.

Both Ballack and Casillas received yellow-cards for confronting the referee as the half came to a close, with Spain having spent the majority of the first period in control.

Spain continued their dominance in the early stages of the second-half, with Torres still causing problems.

Ballack forced Casillas into a diving save in the 59th minute, after Kevin Kuranyi replaced Thomas Hitzlsperger as Germany tried to get into the match.

Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas was replaced by Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso in the 63rd minute, with Santi Cazorla replacing David Silva shortly after.

Sergio Ramos has a stunning attempt to double Spain’s lead, but his header from a free-kick was saved well by Lehmann.

The resulting corner kick saw Iniesta’s shot being cleared off the line by Torsten Frings, much to the relief of the German head coach Joachim Löw.

Torres continued to cause problems for the German defence, with the pace of the Liverpool striker totally outwitting German central defender Christoph Metzelder.

Torres was replaced by Daniel Güiza in the 78th minute, with Germany also making their last change of the match a minute later, with Löw replacing Miroslav Klose with Mario Gomez.

Spain continued to press Germany, but couldn’t quite find the second goal, with Senna coming close to latching on to a cross from Daniel Güiza that could have sealed the match with just ten minutes remaining.

Xavi Hernandez delivered a cross in the 85th minute, which led to a free-kick being awarded after a tackle by Kevin Kuranyi on Senna, but Xavi Hernadez’s strike went over the German crossbar.

Spain head coach Luis Aragones will now retire having helped Spain to win the first major trophy 1962, when they hosted the tournament in 1964 and last won the trophy.

Full Teamsheets for Germany v Spain in the EURO 2008 Final:
Germany Team: Jens Lehmann, Arne Friedrich, Bastian Scweinsteiger, Torsten Frings, Miroslav Klose (Mario Gomez, 79), Michael Ballack (c), Philipp Lahm (Marcell Jansen, 46), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Kevin Kuranyi, 58), Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Christoph Metzelder.

Germany Substitutes: Robert Enke, René Adler, Simon Rolfes, Heiko Westermann, Clemens Fritz, Oliver Neuville, Piotr Trochowski, Tim Borowski, David Odonkor.

Germany Head Coach: Joachim Löw.

Spain Team: Iker Casillas, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernández, Fernando Torres (Daniel Güiza, 78), Joan Capdevila, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Marcos Senna, Cesc Fàbregas (Xabi Alonso, 63), David Silva (Santi Cazorla, 66),

Spain Substitutes: Pepe Reina, Andrés Palop, Raúl Albiol, Fernando Navarro, Sergio García, Álvaro Arbeloa, Juanito, Rubén de la Red, David Villa.

Spain Head Coach: Luis Aragonés.

Spain beat Russia 4-1 in the Euro Cup Semis.

Spain reached the European Championship final for the first time in 24 years on Thursday with a convincing 3-0 win over Russia to set up a meeting with Germany in Sunday's Euro 2008 decider.

Xavi scored with a superbly taken opportunist volley at a rainswept Ernst Happel Stadium to give Spain a deserved 1-0 lead after 50 minutes and substitute Daniel Guiza made no mistake when he beat the offside trap to make it 2-0 after 73 minutes.

Cesc Fabregas set up David Silva to make it 3-0 eight minutes from time.

The breakthrough in an absorbing match came five minutes into the second half when Andres Iniesta cut in from the left and found Xavi who had lost his markers.

He took his chance brilliantly to put Spain ahead and on the way to their first final since they lost to France in 1984.

Guiza replaced Fernando Torres up front after 69 minutes and took only four minutes to strike after being set up by midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who had a huge influence after replacing the injured David Villa after 35 minutes.

Spain, who stretched their unbeaten run to 21 matches, will be attempting to be crowned European champions for the first time since their only success in 1964.

Germany, who reached the final on Wednesday by beating Turkey 3-2, will be aiming for their fourth continental triumph.

Spain beat Russia 4-1 in the group stage two weeks ago and were the better side again on Thursday, totally deserving their triumph because their midfield dominated and created plenty of chances for the front men.

Russia, who improved enormously after that opening loss to Spain, never found the rhythm and verve that had seen off Netherlands in the quarter-final and Andrei Arshavin, the inspiration behind their revival, had a largely anonymous game.

Both teams made a lively start in the pouring rain with Spain creating the first two chances. Torres turned and shot straight at Igor Akinfeyev after six minutes and Villa forced the keeper into a good save five minutes later.

Russia's first serious chance came after 16 minutes when Roman Pavlyuchenko blasted a free kick just over Iker Casillas's bar. He also went close with a long-range shot after 31 minutes. However, the second half belonged to triumphant Spain.

Latest in Euro '08: Germany 1-1 Turkey

Germany were fortunate to be drawing 1-1 with Turkey at halftime at St Jakob Park in the first Euro 2008 semi-final on Wednesday.

Depleted Turkey took the lead midway through the half when Ugur Boral scuffed the ball through goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's legs after a looping effort from Kazim Kazim came back off the bar.

Kazim had already hit the woodwork with a shot while the Turks had several other chances.

Favourites Germany equalised against the run of play when midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger cleverly flicked in a cross from Lukas Podolski, who later shot wide when in a good position after another breakaway.

Teams:

Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Arne Friedrich, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 16-Philipp Lahm; 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 6-Simon Rolfes, 13-Michael Ballack, 15-Thomas Hitzlsperger, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose

Turkey: 1-Rustu Recber; 20-Sabri Sarioglu, 6-Mehmet Topal, 4-Gokhan Zan, 3-Hakan Balta; 18-Kazim Kazim, 22-Hamit Altintop, 7-Mehmet Aurelio, 19-Ayhan Akman, 16-Ugur Boral; 9-Semih Senturk

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).

Spain conquers shoot-out phobia, Italy

Spain overcame a dreadful history and a phobia. Its dread of shoot-outs was conquered and so, too, was Italy, opponent it had not beaten in competitive football for 88 years.

The decisive penalty was taken by the substitute Cesc Fábregas, who displayed all the calm so associated with Arsenal as he slipped the ball past the left-hand of Gigi Buffon.

Previously, Daneiele de Rossi and Alessandro Di Natale had failed for Italy, while Daniel Guiza, of Italy, also had his effort saved.

The main purpose of this match was to remind us of how spoiled we have been at Euro 2008. Here was the sedative for those still in a state of excitement following Russia’s defeat of Holland on Saturday.

When it seemed that extra-time might be avoided it was because of a blunder. Buffon spilled a long-range effort by Marcos Senna after 81 minutes and watched the ball trickle against the post.

No one can plan for such events and Spain, in particular, was so disappointed with its bluntness that Fernando Torres was replaced. Italy ought to have all the calm that rightly belongs to footballers who conquered the world two years ago and Spain, by the same token, should have developed confidence on the basis of recent form. Both, instead, seemed burdened by the importance of the occasion during the first half.

In Spain’s case that anxiety manifested itself in passing that was pedantic even by its standards. Italy, for its part, was wholly un-ambitious. The interval was in sight before it suddenly dawned on the participants that something bold and decisive had to be attempted.

Aragonés’s team was close to going in front here eight minutes from the break. Torres cut in from the left and, when his effort was blocked, David Silva, from the other side of the area, flashed a drive narrowly wide of the far post.

Slightly earlier, all the same, Italy had indicated that it did not need long periods of possession to build menace. Antonia Cassano, free of Sergio Ramos, crossed precisely for Luca Toni, but the striker’s header bounced off his marker Carlos Marchena.

Around that time Italy mustered a modicum of adventure. Some kind of progress was essential.

It has not been secure in defence or sharp-witted in attack and both aspects of the side’s play were potentially hindered further here by the suspensions of Rino Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo.

The action did improve after the break. Having been eliminated in shoot-outs on this very date in the quarterfinals of two World Cups and a European Championship, Spain could not have been counting on luck. There was more forcefulness and, when a Christian Panucci clearance cannoned off Daniele de Rossi, the impressive Giorgio Chiellini made an excellent challenge on Silva.

After 56 minutes the Juventus defender had to react sharply to challenge Torres after the striker had got past Panucci. Substitutions ensued with Aragonés dissatisfied enough to remove Andres Iniesta after an hour.

An Italian alteration, three minutes before, nearly had greater impact. Mauro Camoranesi, on for Simone Perrotta, fastened on to a loose ball after Luca Toni had thrown his weight around and demanded that Casillas make a good save. Spain had the greater enterprise yet did not bring enough focus to its work.

Despite the eventual drama of the penalty shoot-out, the tournament had not been afflicted with a game of this sort since the opening set of fixtures in which Romania and France held one another to a turgid 0-0 draw.