Sometimes, not always, the victors on penalties
are the better team. Spain can claim that their shoot-out triumph over
the world champions was deserved, not only because they scored four
spot-kicks to two, but also because of their general domination of play
during the preceding 120 minutes.

Rearguard victory
Italy
defended supremely well. What many Azzurri fans were calling a
makeshift back four gave Spain’s vaunted two-man strike force of David
Villa and Fernando Torres very little time and space in which to weave
their magic. The occasional jinking run aside, the two forwards were
repeatedly ensnared, with every slight miscontrol seized upon
voraciously by one or sometimes two or even three white shirts.
Torres’s second-half substitution was a little victory for the Italian
rearguard.

Sterile encounter
Roberto
Donadoni, the Italy coach, countered the loss of chief playmaker Andrea
Pirlo through suspension by packing his midfield with players of
industry and endeavour. The plan, it seemed, was to cut the supply to
the front two at source. Indeed, the tone for a match of relative
sterility was set in the opening minutes when the Azzurri parked
everyone defiantly in their own half and invited Spain to come on to
them in the hope that one loose pass might lead to a counterattacking
opportunity.

Low-risk policy
Spain had as
much as 70 per cent of the ball for the first dozen minutes, but were
in no hurry to try anything fancy and cede possession unnecessarily.
Indeed, Marcos Senna, La Roja’s midfield linchpin, ended the first half
with the perfect statistic of 100 per cent pass completion. By the end
of the two hours that figure had been cut to 91 per cent, but while the
Brazilian-born anchorman was undoubtedly one of the best players on
show, his extraordinarily high percentage rating was indicative of the
low-risk policy adopted by both teams.

Disappointing ratio
Senna
fired in four shots, all from distance, getting two on target, one of
which forced Gianluigi Buffon into a rare fumble, spilling it against
the post. The Villarreal CF midfielder’s success ratio was considerably
above average for both his side and the game in general, with Spain
having 26 attempts on goal but only working Buffon six times. Italy,
less willing to shoot on sight, disappointingly managed just three on
target from 12 efforts.

Incontestable win
Spain
also had the edge in terms of overall possession (57 per cent to 43)
and corners won (eight to three). Most importantly of all, though, they
put the ball in the net twice as many times as their opponents during
the penalty shoot-out, with Iker Casillas also proving twice as
successful as his Italian counterpart, in terms of spot-kick saves.
Italy might bemoan their misfortune but, as the statistics show,
Spain’s victory was incontestable.