Hat-trick! Spain reigns

Spain’s Euro 2012 triumph was not so much a victory as an emphatic statement of creative football. Derided by the cognoscenti as a boring “tiki-taka’ team that kept passing the ball without the drive to score goals, Spain ripped Italy apart 4-0 with astounding breakaway moves, excellent passes and attacking soccer of an open and free-flowing variety that would have done Pele’s 1970 Brazil side proud.

A treble coronation of two Euros and a World Cup spells unprecedented success in a monopoly of major titles since Spain was crowned European champions in Vienna four years ago. The quartet of Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xavi and Andres Iniesta is now compared to Pele’s kings, while their colleagues proved no less in energetically covering the length and breadth of the field, in attack and in defence.

To answer critics on benching strikers while employing what the strategists call a “false nine” in Cesc Fabregas, coach Vicente del Bosque even put on field Fernando Torres, who helped complete Italy’s complete rout. This Spanish squad has taken football to a whole new level, with artistry best described as a poetic tribute to the beautiful game.

More than tactics, it was the philosophy of playing the game to satisfy the urge for individual creativity within a team formation as well as entertain the public that caught the eye. Del Bosque’s men have shown the way, and even if this is said a tad early, the prognosis is Spain will be hard to beat in Brazil in 2014.