By beating Germany 1–0 in the Euro 2008 final yesterday, Spain ended its long run of big-tournament disappointments. For the nation of more than 40 million, it was only its second major tournament title, and its first since winning the 1964 European Championship, 44 years ago.

Spain deserved to win this match. It had more shots on goal and kept the ball on the German side of the field for most of the second half. What’s more, Spain played at a high level throughout the entire Euro 2008 tournament.

It didn’t lose any of its matches — technically, the penalty kick triumph against Italy counts as a draw — and didn’t concede a goal in the tournament’s knockout rounds. Spain’s performance left no doubt about its merit as champion.

Such a well-played and exciting final provided a perfect coda to the fantastic Euro 2008 tournament.

The quality of soccer was excellent. A bounty of late goals provided drama. Euro 2008 was a billboard for creative, attackminded soccer.

Yesterday’s game was Germany’s 13th major tournament final, but it never looked like it would be Germany’s fourth European title.

Germany was not as dangerous as Spain going forward and managed only three shots on target. Its captain, Michael Ballack, an injury doubt before the match, was not at the top of his game, and none of the German stars played well.

The game got off to a nervy start as the two teams took a while to find their passing rhythm. It was not until 20 minutes had passed that action really started to open up. In the 22nd minute, Spanish striker Fernando Torres rose above the German defense to deliver a powerful header that cannoned back off the bottom of the post. German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann would have been beaten if the shot had been on target.

After that near miss, the Spanish players really started to assert themselves, pushing their attacks forward into more dangerous positions.

Germany had some half chances as well. Ballack was given space in the box to get off a shot, but it was blocked by Sergio Ramos.

In the 33rd minute, as AB C’s announcers rambled on about the diminutive size and flexibility of the Spanish midfielders, Fernando Torres scored a fantastic goal. Spanish midfielder Xavier Hernandez hit a perfect, defense-splitting pass for Torres to run onto, and just when it looked like German defender Philipp Lahm or goalkeeper Lehmann would beat Torres to the ball, he managed — through sheer force of will — to get there first and clip the ball over the sprawling Lehmann. One to nil Spain.

Ballack then got a nasty cut just over his eye from an accidental head-butt by Marcos Senna — who really was just trying to head the ball. The wound had to be sewed up on the sidelines, but Ballack was soon back in the action. The German captain, now with a black eye and streaks of blood on his face and neck, looked like he was returning from battle.

In the second half, Spain continued to push forward and looked more likely to score its second goal, rather than Germany getting its first. Spain controlled possession and had several decent chances in front of goal.

Germany made an early change, bringing on an extra striker in the 58th minute to push for the tying goal. The switch almost paid quick dividends as Bastian Schweinsteiger teed up Ballack for a volley just outside of the box. His shot rippled the net, but it was just wide. The game had really opened up, and both teams had chances in the next few minutes.

In the 67th minute, Ramos was wide open at the back post on a free kick. His powerful header was saved by Lehmann, and from the ensuing corner, Andres Iniesta’s goal-bound shot was saved only by the well-placed knee of Torsten Frings.

The game slowed down considerably in the last 20 minutes as Spain tried to protect its one-goal advantage.

In the 81st minute, however, Senna made a fantastic run, weaving between several German defenders before playing it wide to Santi Cazorla. His pass back across the box was headed down by Daniel Guiza right into Senna’s path.

It was agonizing to watch as Senna just missed connecting on what would’ve been a fantastic goal.

As the final minutes wound down, Germany played long balls toward the Spanish goal, but the team could not create any good scoring chances. Spain held on for the deserved 1–0 victory.

One of the keys to the high level of play in this tournament cannot be duplicated at the next major international tournament, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. With only 16 teams qualifying for Euro 2008, and 10 of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s top 15 ranked teams participating, many of the games featured two strong sides. However, with 32 teams qualifying for the World Cup, there will be fewer matches featuring two first-rate teams.

Unfortunately, Euro 2012 will probably be the last tournament that favors quality over quantity.

The Union of European Football Associations, Europe’s soccer governing body, unanimously voted to expand the field to 24 teams in time for the 2016 tournament.

Sadly, there are not enough good national teams that don’t currently qualify for one of the 16 slots to merit the inclusion of eight more teams. The quality of the matches will surely drop.

For now, that is far off. The focus of national team soccer will quickly shift to qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa. Though Spain and Germany are well-positioned to challenge for the title, no European team has ever won a World Cup outside of Europe. Spain has made history; can they do it again?

samsternjones@gmail.com