Night of triumph for Spain

Spain 1-0 Germany
Spain lifted the UEFA European Under-19 Championship after overcoming Germany 1-0 in the final at the Ullevaal stadium, Oslo.

Fascinating game
Fernando Torres's 55th-minute goal in front of 16,464 spectators separated the two sides after a fascinating game which brought an enthralling tournament to a close.

Captain returns
Spain's Juan Alberto 'Melli' Andreu was left out of the side to make way for captain Ander Murillo, who sat out Thursday's 3-1 win against Slovakia through suspension. In the first minute Spain could have taken the lead, Fernando Torres shooting wide after be burst through a static German defence.

German reply
Germany replied with a Piotr Trochowski effort that tested Miguel Angel Moyá. Trochowski again proved willing to shoot from distance in the 13th minute, rifling a shot just over Moyá's crossbar.

Haas block
On 19 minutes a José Antonio Reyes free-kick released Fernando Torres but German goalkeeper Daniel Haas blocked the forward's shot. Thereafter the half became scrappy with neither side able to sustain possession for long enough to put their opponents under pressure.

Excitement injection
On 32 minutes German captain Moritz Volz injected some excitement back into the game, with a mazy run only to then drag his shot wide. Six minutes later Haas made two fine stops, first denying Sergio García de la Fuente and then pushing a Reyes effort round the post.

Hanke curler
Germany's Mike Hanke also came close to scoring when he ran on to a long pass five minutes before half-time and chipped the ball past Moyá only to see his effort bounce wide. The final significant action of the half saw Spain's Andrés Iniesta pick up a booking for a challenge on Ioannis Masmanidis.

Bright start by Spain
Spain started the second half brightly as Reyes sprung the German offside trap only to hit a tame shot straight at Haas. A Trochowski corner then caused momentary panic in the Spanish area as it was stabbed goalwards by Alexander Meyer but Spain somehow scrambled the ball away.

Fernando Torres goal
In the 53rd minute Volz was booked for pulling back Reyes and two minutes later Spain took the lead. Iniesta played an astute pass for Fernando Torres who dashed into the box. The Spanish forward fluffed his initial shot but Malik Fathi and Haas both hesitated giving him the chance to stab the ball into the net and go clear at the top of the tournament's goalscoring charts with four.

Tempo controlled
German coach Stielike brought on David Odnokor and Philipp Lahm for Volz and Janis Crone, while Spain replaced Sergio with Jon Andoni García and Reyes with Carmelo J. González. Still it was the Spanish who controlled the tempo of the game though.

Final throw of the dice
With 12 minutes left Germany made their final substitution, bringing on Marcel Schied for Masmanidis. Germany gave it everything they had in the final few minutes, Trochowski sent a long-range effort inches over the crossbar and another shot just wide of the post, while Hanke shot over when well placed in added time, but it was not to be as Spain held on to claim the trophy.