Fernando Torres' clinical finish gave Spain their first trophy win for 44 years.
The Liverpool striker did superbly to latch on to a Xavi pass, skip past the challenge of Philipp Lahm and dink the ball over Jens Lehmann to give Spain a 33rd minute lead.
Jubilant: Spanish players celebrate defeating Germany thanks to Fernando Torres' goal
The impressive Torres had also earlier hit the post with a header as Spain recovered from a slow start to take control of the match.
Spanish coach Luis Aragones opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation this evening with Cesc Fabregas the closest line of support to Fernando Torres up front. Germany named Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings as fit and manager Joachim Low once again fielded the 4-5-1 formation.
Miroslav Klose led the Germans up front and it was him that opened the attacking opportunities following a defensive mistake by Sergio Ramos. Spain's Carles Puyol did just enough to put the German's strike off target. For the opening ten minutes the game was all Germany, they looked a far more assured side to that which faced Turkey last week. Before Spain even got a look in their goalkeeper Carles Puyol had seen most of the action.
Spain then found their forma dominated the rest of the first half. The German's did not learn from their mistakes and time after time Spain were getting in their fast runs down the wings and getting in behind their defenders around goal. A superb pass by Xavi put Andres Iniesta in behind full-back Arne Friedrich and the Barcelona man's subsequent low cross was deflected goalwards by Metzelder, and it needed a finger-tip save from Jens Lehmann to keep the ball out. Torres had the next chance which to Jens Lehmann's relief hit the outside of his post after the Liverpool player headed Ramos' cross in the German's direction.
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In a brief break-out by Germany, screams for a penalty were ignored as Ballack's Ballack's shot was blocked by Ramos - but replays showed the ball hit the defender's midriff.
On 33 minutes Torres had his moment. Xavi threaded the ball through and the Liverpool man did superbly to escape the attentions of Philipp Lahm before clipping the ball over the outward running Lehmann and into the net. Minutes later Spain could have made it 2-0 but David Silva's attempt from Iniesta's volley shot to the back row of the stadium.
Germany subsequently went down to 10 men while Ballack received treatment to a facial injury. As the half approached Germany were being out-run by Spain who cruising along didn't look like they wanted the half to end.
Loew made a change during the break bringing Marcell Jansen for his Bayern Munich team-mate Lahm. In spite of the change Spain still looked the more threatening side with Torres almost scoring an exact replica of his first goal, Lehmann made a fantastic save to keep his side in with a chance.
Germany began to look brighter and Ballack almost pulled it back level after 60 minutes when his shot went painfully close to the bottom left corner.
Tensions started to mount in the 65th minute when Silva and Lukas Podolski went head-to-head, and Germany players raged that Silva had made contact with Podolski's face – the Valencia player was lucky to get away without a booking.
The Spanish attack came back at the Germans again and again. Their defence poor only Lehmann was ensuring the score line was not doubled. Ramos had a header punched off the line by Lehmann – German defender Marcell Jansen did very little to help his goalkeeper.
Fernando Torres was taken off after 80 minutes, a change that did not alter the Spanish performance. Germany;s second half showed constant glimpses of chances which amounted to nothing
As the final whistle was blown the Spanish squad stormed on to the pitch to celebrate becoming Euopean Champions 2008.
The Liverpool striker did superbly to latch on to a Xavi pass, skip past the challenge of Philipp Lahm and dink the ball over Jens Lehmann to give Spain a 33rd minute lead.
Jubilant: Spanish players celebrate defeating Germany thanks to Fernando Torres' goal
The impressive Torres had also earlier hit the post with a header as Spain recovered from a slow start to take control of the match.
Spanish coach Luis Aragones opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation this evening with Cesc Fabregas the closest line of support to Fernando Torres up front. Germany named Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings as fit and manager Joachim Low once again fielded the 4-5-1 formation.
Miroslav Klose led the Germans up front and it was him that opened the attacking opportunities following a defensive mistake by Sergio Ramos. Spain's Carles Puyol did just enough to put the German's strike off target. For the opening ten minutes the game was all Germany, they looked a far more assured side to that which faced Turkey last week. Before Spain even got a look in their goalkeeper Carles Puyol had seen most of the action.
Spain then found their forma dominated the rest of the first half. The German's did not learn from their mistakes and time after time Spain were getting in their fast runs down the wings and getting in behind their defenders around goal. A superb pass by Xavi put Andres Iniesta in behind full-back Arne Friedrich and the Barcelona man's subsequent low cross was deflected goalwards by Metzelder, and it needed a finger-tip save from Jens Lehmann to keep the ball out. Torres had the next chance which to Jens Lehmann's relief hit the outside of his post after the Liverpool player headed Ramos' cross in the German's direction.
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In a brief break-out by Germany, screams for a penalty were ignored as Ballack's Ballack's shot was blocked by Ramos - but replays showed the ball hit the defender's midriff.
On 33 minutes Torres had his moment. Xavi threaded the ball through and the Liverpool man did superbly to escape the attentions of Philipp Lahm before clipping the ball over the outward running Lehmann and into the net. Minutes later Spain could have made it 2-0 but David Silva's attempt from Iniesta's volley shot to the back row of the stadium.
Germany subsequently went down to 10 men while Ballack received treatment to a facial injury. As the half approached Germany were being out-run by Spain who cruising along didn't look like they wanted the half to end.
Loew made a change during the break bringing Marcell Jansen for his Bayern Munich team-mate Lahm. In spite of the change Spain still looked the more threatening side with Torres almost scoring an exact replica of his first goal, Lehmann made a fantastic save to keep his side in with a chance.
Germany began to look brighter and Ballack almost pulled it back level after 60 minutes when his shot went painfully close to the bottom left corner.
Tensions started to mount in the 65th minute when Silva and Lukas Podolski went head-to-head, and Germany players raged that Silva had made contact with Podolski's face – the Valencia player was lucky to get away without a booking.
The Spanish attack came back at the Germans again and again. Their defence poor only Lehmann was ensuring the score line was not doubled. Ramos had a header punched off the line by Lehmann – German defender Marcell Jansen did very little to help his goalkeeper.
Fernando Torres was taken off after 80 minutes, a change that did not alter the Spanish performance. Germany;s second half showed constant glimpses of chances which amounted to nothing
As the final whistle was blown the Spanish squad stormed on to the pitch to celebrate becoming Euopean Champions 2008.
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