Spain successfully defend their EHF Euro title

Following victories in Euro 2008 and the FIFA World Cup 2010, Spain made it three global competitions in a row when they won the Euro title again in 2012.

Spain were in Group C along with Italy, Croatia and Republic of Ireland in Euro 2012, which was held in Poland and Ukraine. Following a 1-1 draw against Italy in their opener, they produced two wins, defeating Republic of Ireland and Croatia 4-0 and 1-0 respectively. With seven points from their three games, Spain topped their group ahead of Italy, who had five points.

In the quarter-final against France, Spain won 2-0 to progress to the semi-final against Portugal. That game ended as a goalless draw even after extra time and had to be settled by penalties. Spain went through to the final on the back of a 4-2 win in the penalties. The final between Spain and Italy was played in Kiev and turned out to be totally one-sided. Spain were runaway winners as they scored four goals and conceded none. The 4-0 victory allowed them to defend their Euro title and lift the trophy once again.

Did you know?

Spain’s Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot in Euro 2012. He was tied with five others on three goals. Among those five, he was tied with Germany’s Mario Gomez on assists as well. But since Torres had played fewer minutes than Gomez in the tournament, he won the Golden Boot.

By scoring in their 4-0 win in the final against Italy, Torres became the first person to score in two finals, having also scored the only goal in their 1-0 Euro 2008 final win against Germany.

Spain also produced the best player of the tournament as Andres Iniesta was awarded the UEFA Player of the Tournament award.

Picture Credit : Google

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