Euro 2012: Spain V. Ireland
It was a rainy evening in Poland as the national Spanish team and the national Irish team started to face off. Within the first four minutes of this match, Fernando Torres crosses a ball that lands in the back of the goal. This ball was fired with pure and absolute power. The rest of the half following this goal was full of frustrating failed passes and shots on goal from the Irish side.
Heading into the second half, the score was 1-0 Spain, but was soon changed by David Silva as he shot and made a goal with his left foot in the 48th minute of the match, making it 2-0. As the match continued, Spain passed it around the pitch as if they are playing keep away from the Irish.
On a break away in the 70th minute, Torres again puts the ball in the back of the net to sink Ireland into a 3-0 deficit. It looks as if Del Bosque’s choice to start with a striker gave the team the confidence they needed to feel comfortable on the field. In Spain’s first game last Sunday against Italy, Del Bosque decided to start six midfielders instead of five midfielders and a striker. During Sunday’s game Torres only played the last 15 minutes.
It appeared that Spain was done scoring goals after they substituted Torres out for a pair of fresh legs. But it was the substitute, Cesc Fabregas, in the 82nd minute that came up with a goal, off a set piece from a corner kick, taking the Spaniards to a soaring score of 4-0 against the Irish. Though they tied their first game against Italy, they are more than making up for it tonight.
Spain is looking to defend their Euro 2008 Title by repeating as champions again this year. This would be a history-making championship, since no one has ever repeated in the history of this tournament. This Spanish National Team is also the first team to hold the Euro Championship and the World Championship at the same time. Nothing is impossible and it’ll be interesting to see if this Spanish team can prove itself to be one of the greatest international football teams of all time. Many have their doubts about Spain repeating, but it seems as though they are not done fighting yet.
As Spain closes out this game 4-0 over Ireland, the Irish are officially eliminated from Euro 2012 though they still have one more match against Italy on Monday as group play concludes. Ireland played their best, but it just wasn’t enough to compete with the world champions.
Spain’s next match is on Monday against Croatia to decide who from group C will advance out of group play. The teams left in contention from group C are Spain(4pts), Croatia(4pts), and Italy(2pts). It’s still anybody’s tournament.
