Five things we learned from Spain vs Ireland

A vintage display from reigning European and World champions Spain against Ireland left the entire footballing community in awe and delight. Their highly polished 4-0 win left the Republic of Ireland stupefied in a game which was dominated in typical fashion by the Spaniards. Moreover, the misfiring Fernando Torres finally found his range as he scored a brace alongside goals from David Silva and Fernando Torres. We look at five important take-aways from this Group C encounter.

Spain can very well defend their crown

After their opening group match against Italy in which they failed to get going for most parts, Spain were being described as a team which lacked the desire to win another international trophy after their all-conquering run in the last few years. Their fabled passing game was devoid of penetration and attacking instinct. But the game against Ireland was business as usual for the boys from Madrid and Catalunya (where 90% of the squad comes from).

Del Bosque put his faith in Torres by including him in the starting eleven and the Chelsea man didn’t disappoint. He scored two really well-taken goals as an entire nation breathed a sigh of relief. If the fascinating football showed by Spain is a sign of things to come, they very well are on course to become the first nation to win the consecutive trio of Euro-World Cup-Euro.

Enough of the Torres jokes

Ever since his soul-shattering miss against Manchester United, Fernando Torres has been subject to a huge database of jokes and trolls which have slowly piled up on the internet. Two miserable seasons for Chelsea haven’t helped his cause either. His poor form even led Del Bosque to play Fabregas upfront against Italy. To rub salt into the wounds, Torres missed a couple of easy chances after he was brought on later in the game.

But Torres finally ended his misadventures infront of goal against Ireland, bagging a brace and threatening with the ball in and around the box. He might still be a little far off from his usual destructive self, but this display would have done Torres a world of good. For his fans, it signaled a return of the Torres of old and for the millions of Twitteratis and Facebookers after his life for so long, a reason to focus their attention on somebody else!

Llorente, Negredo and Pedro won’t be seeing much playing time

When Del Bosque decided to replace Torres with Fabregas midway through the second half, it made one thing crystal clear. The three other forward options- Fernando Llorente, Alvaro Negredo and Pedro Rodrigues aren’t in the coach’s plans for the summer. The match situation was perfect for Del Bosque to try either one his strikers and gauge their fitness and performance at this level, but his decision showed his intention to stick to Torres and Fabregas for the tournament. He has a clear tactical plan in mind and only an injury will force him to deviate from it. As far as the reserve strikers are concerned, all they can do is warm the benches, enjoy central European hospitality and cheer their teammates on.

Ireland are one of the best supported teams of Euro 2012

One of the most striking aspects of the match was the dis-proportionality of the number of Irish and Spanish supporters at the PGE Arena in Gdansk. The entire stadium, except for a few stands and tiers, was dressed in Irish green and the vocal crowd from the island nation made their presence felt throughout the course of the match. They sang chants and songs in delightful unison and even Spain’s total domination of the game and the four goals couldn’t silence them. They accepted Spain’s superior game graciously and didn’t save anything when it came to cheering their team on.

The loser of Spain vs Croatia will crash out of the tournament

With Italy expected to make short work of Ireland in their final group game, the fate of Spain and Croatia will lie in their own hands when they square off on match-day 3 of Group C. Spain and Croatia both have 4 points from two games, with Spain leading the table courtesy a superior goal difference. If Ireland fail to cause an upset against Italy, who currently have 2 points, the winner of the Spain-Croatia game will go through as table-toppers while the loser might end up being knocked out. In the event of a draw, goal difference will be the deciding factor. But one thing is for certain, match-day 3 of Group C will see a very powerful side crash out, the most likely contenders being Spain or Croatia. This match could very well turn out to be the match of the tournament.