Sergio Ramos, the great absence of the Spanish team in Euro 2020, recalled before the semifinal duel against Italy the last conquest of a title by Spain, in the final of 2012 with the feeling of being “a vintage team” .
One of the great memories of the Spanish team comes in a final against Italy. In Kiev, with the biggest win in the last match of a final phase with that 4-0 that closed a cycle of glory. Two Euro Cups in a row and a World Cup in the middle.
“We had it in mind before the final, we knew that we were a historical, period team. We felt the difficulty of winning the European Championship, the World Cup and the European Championship but it motivated us a lot to win and make it practically impossible for a team that wants to match it”he said in an interview with UEFA. “What we did will take years and it will be very difficult to overcome.”
Nine years later, Ramos remembers every detail of that final, the preparation with Vicente del Bosque as coach and the rivals who put the hegemony of the Spanish team to the test. “Vicente placed a lot of emphasis in general on the rival team, not on any specific player because it was a great Italy with Pirlo, Cassano, young Balotelli in splendid form”, he remembered.
With football aspects that can well be applied to the present of Italy to which Spain will be measured in the semifinals of the current European Championship. “Italians always have that added experience, they know how to play and they always handle the little details very well.”
But the key was the great start, to score first. “Getting into a final ahead against Italy was a very important step. I remember the ball that Fabregas crosses for an extraordinary header from Silva who, despite being small, was always good at shooting a header.”
“Jordi Alba never stops going up and down, he surprised in speed and ended up defining an extraordinary goal that put us 2-0. You already had to think about a favorable result, our identity and control of the game. And Torres was touched in the finals by the wand. Behind what we live there is effort, dedication, work and professionalism “, he highlighted.