Spanish victory in vain

Finland 0-2 Spain
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
7.45pm (BST), Monday 22 June 2009
Gothenburg, Sweden

Spain beat Finland 2-0 in Gothenburg, but it wasn’t enough to stop them crashing out of the European Under-21 Championship.

The Spaniards, whose senior side are reigning European champions, needed to win and hope that Germany lost to England in order to progress, but the 1-1 draw between the other two Group B sides ensured Spain will not reach the semi-final.

But they put on an impressive performance in their final game, with Marc Torrejon and Pedro Leon scoring the goals that secured a deserved victory.

Despite Spain’s need for three points, coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro stuck with the 4-4-2 formation that England picked apart so expertly last Thursday.

Xisco and Leon started up front together in a new-look strike-force, and while it was no surprise that Spain dominated possession of the ball from the off, the lack of a cutting edge up front would certainly have worried their coach.

However, all that changed on the half-hour mark as Torrejon blasted them into the lead, taking advantage of a corner that was only half-cleared and firing into the bottom corner from ten yards out.

Spain visibly grew in confidence after that strike, with Leon impressing up front, and it was just reward that it was the Real Valladolid star who scored the second ten minutes after half-time, slamming home a superb free-kick that clipped the underside of the crossbar on its way in.

To their credit, Finland didn’t give up, with Kasper Hamalainen coming close, but in truth Spain were far superior and held out with ease to record their first – and final – victory of the tournament.