Euro 2008 Report: Spain 4-1 Russia

A lot of pundits were tipping Spain to do well in this tournament. After their performance earlier this evening you can see why.

A 4-1 scoreline doesn’t do the Spanish justice. They swarmed all over a pretty disappointing Russian team to announce their arrival in a very big way. The Netherlands had got Euro 2008 going on Monday night and the Spanish thought they needed to make an impact and they didn’t disappoint.

All the talk was about Fernando Torres but it was his strike partner who was to take home the match ball. David Villa has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal and if Arsene Wenger was watching then he is bound to of been impressed by what he saw.

His first was thanks to excellent work from Torres, the second was after a beautifully timed run and through ball. He wrapped up his hat trick after being sent through, shoulder barging the defender before checking inside and pulling the ball past the keeper. A truly wonderful performance that will of made scouts all over sit p and take notice.

Whilst going forward they were a treat, defensively they still looked a tad shaky. They did concede late from a corner and several times were exposed in the channels. Febregas came off the bench to nab a fourth despite being offside - and this time it definitely was offside folks!

So Spain have opened their campaign with a more than impressive performance. Was it more to do with Russia’s inadequacies or Spain’s splendour? That is a question that I don’t think we can answer until they play in the Quarter-Finals against someone from Group C. However they did well and considering I am one of those who never tips Spain and waits for them to fall apart, for them to impress me takes something.