Spain (4', 70' Torres, 49' Silva, 83' Fabregas) 4-0 Ireland
What a match tonight in Gdansk! The Hibernian head home from Poland and
Ukraine after their defeat and are officially out of the tournament following
an embarrassing encounter with La Roja
at the PGE Arena. And still, Irish
supporters sang proudly in spite of the 4-0 deficit. Class act, Ireland, class act.
Fernando Torres opened up the scoring at the 4'
minute mark, proving to naysayers and disbelievers that he still has it. Let us not forget that it was because of El Niño that Spain won the 2008
Euro. The Chelsea man took advantage of
some uncertain defending from Richard Dunne, his lethal strike going past Shay
Given and into the back of net.
In a post-match interview, Torres stated, "We
wanted to win, to make a better impression than we did against
Italy." And they certainly did
leave spectators wanting more.
His goal marked the start of La Roja's assault on the Irish.
Vicente del Bosque's men seemed to be a permanent fixture outside the
Hibermian box for the majority of the first 45, Given forced to make save after
save after save. I have to give it to
Given, though. The Aston Villa
goalkeeper did well to deny Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Gerard Piqué their
chances of goal from outside the area.
