Torres Goal Lifts Spain to European Glory

After weeks of frustration in front of goal, Fernando Torres finally got the goal that brought him glory.

In the 33rd minute, Torres ran after a through ball from Xavi Hernandez and managed to poke it over a diving Jens Lehmann, who turned to watch it roll slowly into the net. It was a well-deserved goal for Torres, who had countless opportunities in the previous four matches but couldn't convert. It also gave Spain a 1-0 win over Germany in the EURO 2008 Final and its first European Championship since 1964.

Spain deserved this one, too. They simply outplayed Germany all throughout the match, making far more opportunities in attack, getting more shots on goal (8 to 3) and befuddling Germany in the midfield all throughout the game. Iker Casillas was rarely troubled in front of goal, and when he was, he was a beast.

If anything, the Spanish probably should have gotten a lot more than just one goal. Several opportunities just missed in the area. One early Torres headed bounced off the post. Another fabulous setup in the box late in the match missed Marcus Senna's foot by inches. That goal could have sealed it, but instead, Spain's ridiculous run of possession in the last ten minutes killed the clock.

Credit Germany with a solid early attack, but Spain put the Germans on their back foot after 15 minutes or so, and after that, the white shirts simply couldn't make the opportunities, and the ones they did make too often went horribly wrong. Germany's best opportunity came in the 60th minute, when a Carles Puyol howler in the corner set up Michael Ballack for a 20-foot shot, but it went just wide. Another great opportunity came in the final minute of regulation, but Mario Gomez knocked over a Spanish player going for the ball, and the ref called a foul, ending an attack that could have sent the match to extra time.

It was a quality final to cap off a quality tournament. All that's left now is for all of us to burn the words "ol' onion bag" out of our heads.

If you missed our liveblog of the event, relive the magic here.