Spain .vs. Ireland

Going into this game Spain had a point to prove after a below par performance against Italy and Ireland had to get a result to have a chance of qualifying for the next round and keep the green army’s hopes alive.

The start of the match was an utter disaster for Ireland, a good tackle from Richard Dunne fell to Fernando Torres who took it round the edge of the box and then smashed it into the roof of Shay Givens net. After that Ireland don’t get much of an attack going and focus on keeping the score line as low as possible as we all know with Spain you concede one you’re probably going to concede more, and Ireland successfully held Spain for the rest of the first half.

HT – Spain 1-0 Ireland

The second half started very much like the second a poor defensive mistake leading to a goal this time a cross coming in from the left and Shay Given hesitates and punches it straight to David Silva who had just enough time to shift the ball on to his favoured left foot to calmly place the ball into the bottom left hand corner. That goal effectively told Ireland they were going home so they thought they would just hold out for the score as it is but Spain weren’t quite finished some more sloppy defending saw Torres through on goal again and one on one with Shay Given you will always favour Torres and yet again he scores to confirm Irelands departure from the championship. Apart from a Robbie Keane shot that was well saved by Casillas, Ireland didn’t have many attempts on goal. On 83 minutes the Irish defence went to sleep yet again and a short corner to Cesc Fabregas who sold a defender a dummy and then powered the ball past Given hitting the far post from what seemed an impossible angle and deflecting in. Truly sinking Irish hearts.

FT – Spain 4-0 Ireland

Man of the Match – The man of the match for me had to be Fernando Torres, seeing him score those types of goals again like he did back at Liverpool would have brought a smile to every football fans face. His pace and clinical finishing in this match shows us what to expect from Torres for the rest of this tournament and next season.

Fernando Torres during Spain .vs. Ireland

After this performance it’s hard to say that Spain don’t have a chance to win this tournament as long as Torres stays in form and the defence stays solid I can see this Spanish team lifting the cup for a third time equalling Germanys record in this tournament.