Euro2008: Spain Crowned Worthy Winners

Spain has fantastic technique and ability and a complete mastery of the ball. They thoroughly deserved to win. There were flashes from Holland, Portugal and Croatia but Spain have been absolutely fantastic. I'm delighted for Aragones. He has taken a lot of criticism in the last few years but has come back. In the qualifying rounds they lost to Northern Ireland at Windsor Park and he was under severe pressure but fought his way back.

There have been a number of stories in the tournament, including Turkey and our hearts go out to them. But Spain have been the team that deserved everything to come their way. The Germans had a little spell where you thought they might just get into the game. Michael Ballack will be disappointed, he missed out on the final at the World Cup in 2006 and perhaps he was not fit, but he was their one world class player in an average side. You need more than that. I think only Diego Maradona is the only player ever to win a major tournament on his own. Ballack just did not have the calibre of players he needed around him.

Spain have been magnificent. I always felt they were big underachievers for years. They have come up with a talented team with question marks but answered all of them. From the manager to the substitutes to the players - everyone has come up trumps. Tactically they got it spot on. The substitutions were really big decisions he had to make and he got every single one right. I thought after the World Cup in 2006 it might get a bit negative in the later stages, but I have been pleasantly surprised.