UEFA Euro 2012 final

UEFA Euro 2012 Final

The Olympic Stadium in Kyiv hosted the final.
Event	UEFA Euro 2012
Spain Italy 4 0
Date	1 July 2012 (2012-07-01)
Venue	Olympic Stadium, Kyiv
Man of the Match	Andrés Iniesta (Spain)
Referee	Pedro Proença (Portugal)
Attendance	63,170
Weather	Clear night 26 °C (79 °F) 42% humidity[1]
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The UEFA Euro 2012 Final was the final match of Euro 2012, the fourteenth edition of the European Football Championship, UEFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, on 1 July 2012, and was contested by Spain and Italy. The sixteen-team tournament began with a group stage, from which eight teams qualified for the knockout phase. En route to the final, Spain finished top of Group C, with a draw against Italy and wins over Croatia and the Republic of Ireland. Spain then defeated France in the quarter-finals before beating Portugal in the semi-final after a penalty shoot-out. Italy were second in Group C, with draws against Spain and Croatia, and a victory over the Republic of Ireland. In the knockout rounds, Italy defeated England after a penalty shoot-out, then Germany in the semi-final.

The final took place in front of 63,170 supporters and was refereed by Pedro Proença from Portugal. Spain took the lead in the 14th minute, when Andrés Iniesta played a through-ball to Cesc Fàbregas, who ran past Giorgio Chiellini to the by-line before pulling back a cross for David Silva to head in from close range. Italy responded with shots from Antonio Cassano that were saved by Spain's goalkeeper Iker Casillas but Spain doubled their lead before half-time, when Xavi passed to Jordi Alba, who capped a long forward run with a shot past Gianluigi Buffon in the Italy goal. Fernando Torres replaced Fàbregas with 15 minutes left to play, and scored in the 84th minute – assisted by Xavi – to become the first man to score in two European Championship finals. Torres then passed the ball back with the outside of his boot for Juan Mata to sweep into an empty net for a final score of 4–0. Spain's Iniesta was named as UEFA's man of the match.

Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and the first team to win three consecutive major tournaments – Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2012. It was the greatest margin of victory in the history of the European Championship finals, and the fourth time that teams who played each other in the group stage faced one another once again in the final (after 1988, 1996 and 2004). Usually, the winner of the European Championship gains entry to the Confederations Cup, which was played in Brazil in 2013. However, since Spain already qualified as the 2010 World Cup champions, Italy qualified automatically as the UEFA representative, with their win in the semi-final against Germany, despite losing in the final to Spain.